Paul Reed signs 3-year $23M deal with the Utah Jazz

According to multiple reports, Paul Reed Jr has signed a 3-year, $23 million deal with the Utah Jazz.

Reed is a restricted free agent for the Philadelphia 76ers and the deal is filled with incentives to dissuade Philadelphia from matching the offer. According to Adrean Wojnarowski Reed signed the deal Saturday morning and the Sixers have until 11:59 p.m. ET on Sunday to match and retain Reed.

The deal is rife with incentives to make signing Reed a pain for the Sixers, from Woj:

One term of the offer sheet contains a unique twist: The first season of the contract is fully guaranteed, while the following two seasons become guaranteed if Reed’s team advances to the conference semifinals in 2023-24, sources said. Given where the two franchises stand, it is more likely the Sixers would have to guarantee the $15.7 million total for the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons than the Jazz.

That’s a really creative twist for the contract that helps the Jazz and hurts the Sixers. It’s a win-win for Utah who has the cap space and if they make the conference finals, there’s no penalty. For the Sixers, winning now becomes much more expensive.

If the 76ers match the offer sheet, they would exceed the $165 million luxury tax threshold and incur an additional $14 million in luxury tax penalties. Reed would have veto power on trades for a year if he remains in Philadelphia.

Not only is the contract larger than what the Sixers would likely want to pay, but it also is designed to put them in the luxury tax. Knowing the much more stringent restrictions of the new collective bargaining agreement, this is no small thing.

As far as fit for Utah, without question Utah has one of the deepest front courts in the NBA. With the acquisition of Paul Reed, John Collins, and Taylor Hendricks this offseason, it will be interesting to see where Kelly Olynyk ends up in the rotation and how minutes will be used with star sophomore, Walker Kessler.

Whether they get Reed or not, the Jazz are one of the deeper teams in the league with a slew of good to great NBA rotation players. They may not have an MVP-caliber player on this team, but the Jazz will be difficult tod defend, and score on, at every position for 48 minutes a game. And even with injuries, Utah will still put out strong lineups every night. Don’t be surprised if Utah ends up in the 50-win range with how much talent is on the roster.