Could Knicks Sign Old Enemy?

When it comes to handling their potential depth woes, the New York Knicks are in no position to leave any roster stone unturned.

ESPN’s Shams Charania has reported that the Detroit Pistons have released Paul Reed in a cost-cutting situation. In Manhattan circles, Reed is best known for publicly anticipating the idea that he and his prior employers, the Philadelphia 76ers, landed an “easier” matchup with the Knicks last postseason. The Knicks forced Reed to eat those words, dealing him a six-game defeat to end his Brotherly Love tenure. Philadelphia was a minus-44 on the scoreboard when Reed was on the floor.

Despite the poor memories, the Knicks could find use for Reed, who has developed a decent-enough career as a depth star after entering as a late second-round pick out of DePaul in 2020.

While metropolitan newcomers like Karl-Anthony Towns and Cameron Payne have performed as advertised, it’s clear that the Knicks (15-10) have missed Mitchell Robinson. His absence is apparent in New York opponents’ inflated scoreboard tallies.

The Knicks have allowed at least 120 points on nine occasions this season compared to 14 total times last year. Hurting the cause further is the loss of Isaiah Hartenstein, who chased big bucks in Oklahoma City after serviceably filling for the injured Robinson.

The aches have been partly soothed by the return of Precious Achiuwa, but the former Ontarian sees himself as more of a power forward than a pure center. With Robinson reportedly out until February, the options are relatively slim beyond standing pat–at least until the sleepy Saturday development emerged out of Motown.

Reed is certainly not a needle-mover in terms of helping the Knicks make a move up the Eastern leaderboard, but the name of the game should be maintaining any brand of consistency until–or if–they get to post a full, desired lineup.

Reed’s defensive consistency should be enough to pull that off if and when decides to make a move: his current defensive rating of 107.1 is his best since his rookie year and he’s guarding the perimeter enough reasonably well with his men shooting less than 39 percent over 15 feet away from the basket.

Reed is certainly no offensive standout but he takes enough shots in relief to at least draw some attention. Of note, he tried 22 shots in his last four games in Detroit, which counts as a busy workload in New York considering current Towns spell options Jericho Sims and Ariel Hukporti are averaging less than three tries a game combined.

Like almost everything in the Knicks’ realm of gossip and transactions, the situation is far from ideal. But considering what the Knicks have gone through in recent paint promises (notably asking the aging Taj Gibson for another tour around this point last year), Reed has just enough upside to make such an endeavor worth looking into.

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