Tobias harris contract : Tobias Harris’ five-year, $180 million contract seemed like one of the worst in the NBA not long ago
For the Philadelphia 76ers, Tobias Harris no longer appears to be a $180 million blunder.
Harris had the league’s 10th-highest average salary entering the 2020-21 season, but he’s the only player in the top 20 who has never played in an All-Star Game.
He appeared to be a good-but-not-great player earning franchise-player money, making him an albatross on a cap-strapped Sixers squad.
Harris, however, is no longer looking like a $180 million blunder after hitting a game-winning jumper against the reigning champion Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday.
Harris’ per-game output (20.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists) is similar to what he put up last season (19.6 points, 6.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists). So far, his efficiency has made the most difference.
Harris had a 47.1 percent overall shooting percentage and a 36.7 percent three-point shooting percentage last season.
He’s hitting career highs from the field (52.5 percent) and from long range this year (46.1 percent).
According to StatMuse, he and Paul George are the only players in the NBA averaging at least 20 points and five rebounds while shooting at least 50% overall and 45 percent from three.
Harris’ revival should come as little surprise to some. Under then-head coach Doc Rivers, he had his best stretch of his career with the Los Angeles Clippers, and the two have recently reunited in Philadelphia.
Rivers addressed how he planned to get Harris back on track during the preseason.
“First and foremost, we need to get him back to making quick decisions,” he stated. “Last year, I informed him that he was dribbling way too much.
Tobias is a natural at going downhill left and right, and we need to take advantage of it again.”
That message has struck a chord with Harris.
He took zero dribbles on only 35.7 percent of his shots last season, while 35.6 percent of his shooting attempts required three or more dribbles.
He dribbles zero times on 40.5 percent of his shot attempts this season and three times or more on 31.0 percent.
While he’s shooting somewhat poorer on zero-dribble shots this year (45.9% vs. 46.9% last year), he’s become significantly more productive on shots that require three or more dribbles (56.0 percent compared to 42.9 percent).
Some of it could be attributed to Rivers’ system.
After Harris’ game-winning shot against the Lakers, Rivers observed, “We’re just trying to get him to his position.”
“In Memphis, we ran a similar play—not identical, but close—and he got too deep, as you recall, and he went out of bounds.
‘You were on your spot and then you passed it up,’ we informed him. Get to your vantage point, raise your arms, and fire. ‘Make the game as easy as possible.’ And it’s incredible when he does it.”
When the Sixers were down one point with the shot clock turned off in the game against the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this month—one in which Joel Embiid sat out—they went to Harris.
Harris drove to the basket against Grizzlies rookie centre Xavier Tillman Sr.
After running a dribble hand-off with Dwight Howard at the top of the three-point arc. Harris attempted a baseline layup rather than pulling up for a mid-range jumper.
Harris picked up his dribble after Tillman shut off his driving lane, and he ended up stepping out of bounds as he looked for a passing opportunity.
He did the same thing against the Lakers, catching the ball at the top of the three-point range and driving left. Except this time, he was up against Lakers guard Alex Caruso, who was a smaller defender.
Harris might have continued driving to the hoop as LeBron James shaded over to double-team him and Embiid tried to screen Anthony Davis out of the way.
Instead, he drew up and buried the game-winning shot from 15 feet.
Harris’ shooting percentages are likely to decline as the season progresses. He’s shooting a ridiculous 62.1 percent from 10-16 feet away from the basket, compared to 42.8 percent last year.
He’s also not likely to keep making 46.9% of his catch-and-shoot three-point tries or 41.7 percent of his pull-up three-point attempts.
Harris’ greater confidence might pay benefits for a Sixers team with championship aspirations, even if the inevitable regression occurs.
On offence, on any star-studded team, there is typically a push-and-pull before everyone settles into their roles.
It took nearly two full seasons for LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh to figure out how to work together in the early 2010s, but once they did, they went on to win two straight titles and make their third trip in the NBA Finals.
Harris could be settling into a Bosh-like role, where efficiency reigns supreme.
This season, Embiid has been the Sixers’ fulcrum on both ends of the court, and he’s been playing at an MVP-caliber level.
Although Ben Simmons’ per-game production is down from previous seasons, Rivers has praised him for gritty labour that doesn’t always show up in the box score.
The Sixers aren’t forced to rely on Harris for much offensive creation with Simmons pushing the tempo in transition and Embiid leading the offence in the half court.
This helps him to pick his locations more carefully and stay in his comfort zone, or, as Rivers would say, “keep the game simple.”
Harris is unlikely to put up the kind of eye-popping per-game stats that come with such a massive contract as long as the Sixers’ offence revolves around Embiid and Simmons.
From a purely statistical perspective, he’ll always be overpriced.
However, the better his deal looks over time as he settles into his third-banana role and compliments Embiid and Simmons.
Read Also :
