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When the Philadelphia 76ers traded for and then re-signed Tobias Harris to a 5-year $180 million deal in 2019, they were expecting to bring in a guy who can do a variety of things and do it efficiently.
Harris did score in a variety of ways, but he did not exactly do it an efficient way as his numbers dropped across the board. After shooting 34.4% from deep with the Los Angeles Clippers, his 3-point percentage dropped to 32.6% to finish the 2018-19 season and he then shot 36.7% from deep in the 2019-20 season.
Now that Doc Rivers is here in Philadelphia, he is looking to fix Harris and get him back to the efficient scorer he was in Los Angeles.
“Tobias and I have talked a ton since I took the job,” said Rivers. “The first thing we have to do is get him back to being a quick decision player. I told him I saw him dribbling way too much and Tobias is so darn skilled going downhill left and right and we need him to get back to taking advantage of that.”
To Harris’ defense, the team did not have the proper spacing in the 2019-20 season to operate. That put a lot of pressure on Harris to step up and be the one guy to space the floor and create for others and that is why he overthought some things on the floor.
“I agree with him,” Harris said of Rivers. “Quicker decisions to catch the ball, shoot, drive, pass, being faster, they call it faster twitch type player on the court. So I definitely agree with that. Last year, we didn’t have the best spacing so I kind of put me in those positions to try to find something to create. I think it’s a collective unit thing of all five guys working as one and figuring out how to make it easier for each other.”
Rivers was able to make it work with Harris in Los Angeles so the hope now is that he can work his magic again in Philadelphia. His resume says he will be able to make it work and Harris has seen that in person before.
“Doc, he’s really a mastermind at putting the talent on the court in the right positions,” Harris said with a smile. “It’s not necessarily just to say me, but other guys on the floor putting them in the correct positions to be successful as a whole five.”
Training camp is going to be much different in 2020 as the team does not have too much time to put it all together, but that is going to be the challenge of this upcoming season. They just have to make it work under Rivers’ guidance.
“Obviously, we have new guys on this team and that’s why this training camp is important for us to really come together and figure out how every guy fits with one another and how we can make it work,” Harris finished. “That’s going to be on us to really evaluate that as a group out there on a court, but as part of the journey that I think we all are, are expecting and we’re all looking forward to.” [lawrence-related id=39841,39838,39835]