Rees was known for his presence under the basket and while not blessed with a great jumping ability he was able to use his physical size to his advantage and was considered to be a strong rebounder.
Rees quickly established himself as the starting centre for the Giants who hadn't made the playoffs since their 1989 championship win over the Canberra Cannons.
There under new coach Phil Smyth, Rees and the 36ers would both go on to win their second NBL championship when they defeated the South East Melbourne Magic two games to nil in the Grand Final.
Following Semi-finals appearances in both the 1999–2000 and 2000–01 NBL seasons, the Adelaide 36ers, with Paul Rees maintaining his form but sharing the centre spot with teammate David Stiff (who also played at Power forward), made it back to the NBL grand final in 2001–02 where they faced the West Sydney Razorbacks who were led by Rees's former (1998) 36ers teammate John Rillie.
On the "TITLE TOWN: The Adelaide 36ers in the 1990s" documentary, Rees' teammates Rupert Sapwell, Kevin Brooks and Mark Davis told of a number of quirks that he had.
[2] Paul Rees form in winning the 1994 NBL Grand Final MVP award was rewarded when was selected as a member of the Australian Boomers team that finished in 5th place at the 1994 FIBA World Championship.