When the Philadelphia 76ers hired Doc Rivers to replace Brett Brown after his seven seasons on the job, the hope that Rivers would enhance the talent that they had on their roster and he would get the most out of them. To begin the 2020-21 season, he is doing so with an important piece.
Tobias Harris was acquired from Rivers and the Los Angeles Clippers at the 2019 deadline and Philadelphia was hoping that he would be the missing piece for them. After Jimmy Butler left in free agency, the Sixers signed Harris to a 5-year $180 million deal showing their faith in the veteran out of Tennessee.
That came after he shot 32.6% from deep in Philadelphia after the trade–after shooting 43.4% with the Clippers–and he averaged only 15.5 points in the playoffs. The first season of the contract was not much better as he did end up averaging 19.6 points, but he struggled again from deep and he shot only 2-for-15 from deep in the playoffs.
Rivers enters and he has Harris playing at a very high level. He is shooting a blistering 47.2% from deep to begin the season and he has scored 20+ points in four straight games. In 94 career games under Rivers combined between the Clippers and the Sixers, Harris is shooting 42.9% from deep which is way above his career 3-point percentage of 36.6%.
As a player for Doc Rivers, Tobias Harris is shooting 42.9% from 3-point range in 94 games between the Clippers and Sixers.
— Duncan Smith (@DuncanSmithNBA) January 5, 2021
It’s clear that Rivers is just able to get the most out of Harris that Brown was not able to do in the past. Harris deflected praise to Rivers and his teammates for his success and at this point, he might be right. Rivers has done a great job thus far of getting Philadelphia to play team basketball and that instills confidence in a lot of players.
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