4 Free Agents the Bulls Should Sign for the Veteran Minimum

Paul Reed

The 25-year-old was recently waived by the Philadelphia 76ers for financial reasons. One team's cap casualty, however, is another's treasure. Reed is the perfect replacement for Andre Drummond for the Bulls.

Despite being undersized at 6'9, Reed plays bigger than his size. He can guard multiple positions, switch out on the perimeter, and protect the rim at the same time. He played a large role in Philadelphia over the last couple of seasons, especially when Joel Embiid was regularly injured. In 2023-24, he played in all 82 games, averaging 7.3 points, 6 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1 block in 19.4 minutes per game.

Even though he projects to be Nikola Vucevic's backup in this scenario, Vuc is likely not going to last much longer in Chicago. Plus, there is an argument to be made that Reed is better than Vucevic already due to his defensive versatility and physicality.

The Chicago Bulls project to have a bad defense next year. Replacing Alex Caruso with Josh Giddey will almost certainly have disastrous effects on that end of the floor. Considering that the team will play a lot of youngsters, it's safe to assume that there will be defensive struggles. Therefore, it makes some sense to have a defensive anchor like Reed in the backline covering up for these defensive mistakes.

Reed is the type of player who could improve his stock in an expanded role. Chicago could offer him that role, build his trade value, and then potentially use him in a deal to get more assets in return.