When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers at the deadline in 2019, they were hoping that he would be the final piece to make a championship run. The team already had a lot of talent, they were hoping Harris would be the final piece.
After all, he was having a career season with the Clippers averaging 20.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 43.4% from deep. It seemed like a no brainer that he would be able to help the team take the next step.
Instead, his shooting numbers went down and it was a big detriment to the spacing. However, Harris was still scoring at a high clip averaging 18.2 points after the deadline and the Sixers signed him to a 5-year $180 million. He did average 19.6 points in the 2019-20 season, but the shooting numbers have been down across the board and then he shot 2-for-15 from deep in the playoffs.
During Harris’ time with the Clippers, he played under Doc Rivers who is now the coach of the Sixers. Now that he is under contract for another four years and he still has a hefty price tag, there has to be hope that Harris can get back to where he was under Rivers in Los Angeles.
The Sixers absolutely need this version of Harris to be able to move forward as a team. Their best players are obviously Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, but Harris is the guy who is going to play a huge role in this offense. Rivers got the most out of him in Los Angeles, now the challenge is to get him back to that level in Philadelphia. It would be huge if the Sixers can get the proper spacing for the two stars. [lawrence-related id=38046,38061,38049]