NBA Free Agency 2017 Player Profile: Willie Reed
By Ti Windisch
Strengths
The 6’10” Reed is a pretty typical center in today’s modern NBA. He can protect the rim, he doesn’t score a ton of points, and he can grab rebounds. Although his per game numbers are quiet, Reed averaged 13.1 points, 11.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes with the Heat.
Like a good center should, he also made most of the shots he took. Reed converted on 56.8 percent of his field goals, and he made 70 percent of his shots within three feet of the rim. When he gets the ball down low, it’s a bucket for Willie Reed.
In addition to bulk numbers, Reed made Miami better when he was on the floor last season. The Heat with Reed had a plus 2.6 net rating, fifth-best among Miami’s players. Their defensive rating with Reed plummeted to 101.8–only the Heat with Justise Winslow were stingier.
That’s not in a small sample size, either–Reed logged over 1,000 minutes as a member of the Heat last year. He didn’t get tons of chances to play bulk minutes in single games while backing up Hassan Whiteside, but Reed showed he could be productive in the minutes he did get.