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When the Philadelphia 76ers brought in Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers at the 2019 trade deadline, they were hoping for him to be the final piece to the puzzle. They believed in him so much that they rewarded him a 5-year $180 million deal in the offseason.
Harris responded by having a solid season averaging 19.6 points and 6.9 rebounds, but he absolutely struggled in the playoffs as he shot just 2-for-15 from deep in the Round 1 sweep. It was a performance that left a lot of people scratching their heads as to why the Sixers gave Harris that much money.
In a list of the 10 most overpaid players done by Bleacher Report, Harris came in ranked number 2 on the list. B/R on the ranking:
Character and scoring ability are worth something, but whatever that “something” is, it isn’t $180 million over five years. The Philadelphia 76ers are shelling out max money for production that other players could replicate at a fraction of the cost.
T.J. Warren was a more efficient scorer than Harris last season, besting him in points per game (19.8 to 19.6) and true shooting percentage (61.0 percent to 55.6 percent). Harris has advantages in other areas, not the least of which being an assist rate more than double Warren’s. But Warren is a year younger and posted a superior box plus/minus and player efficiency rating.
Sixers fans probably did not need this list to know that Harris is a bit overpaid, but there is a reason for hope on the horizon. He played for new coach Doc Rivers during his time with the Los Angeles Clippers where he put up some of the best numbers of his career. Rivers then mentioned that he would be using Harris a bit differently in his new offense in Philadelphia so that should be something for him to build off of. [lawrence-related id=38430,38427,38421]