Tobias Harris – Page 2 – Syndication Server

Spurs among teams floated as potential Tobias Harris suitors

Should the San Antonio Spurs go after Tobias Harris in free agency?

Tobias Harris and the Philadelphia 76ers are not going to be heading into next season together. The question is, where will Harris go? Which teams will throw him an offer in free agency. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report name-dropped the San Antonio Spurs as a team that could potentially consider signing him.

“The Sixers won’t prioritize retaining Harris over going big-game hunting with their cap space, and it feels like a fresh start is in order anyway,” Hughes wrote. “The Thunder, Pistons, Hornets, Raptors, Spurs and even the Magic could justify tossing $15-20 million per season at Harris, and the options broaden substantially if we include non cap-space teams that could offer the full mid-level exception.

“With bigger names on the market and the “overpaid” label of the past dogging him, Harris feels like a forgotten man in 2024 free agency. Don’t be surprised if, when we reassess the offseason in a few months, the team that signs him rates as one of the big winners.”

Harris could bring a solid veteran presence to San Antonio, but he looked rough at the end of his time with the 76ers.

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Ricky Council IV singles out Tobias Harris as a veteran who helped him

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Ricky Council IV singles out Tobias Harris as veteran who helped him out the most.

CAMDEN, N.J. — Philadelphia 76ers undrafted rookie forward Ricky Council IV made an impact in his first season in the NBA.

Signed to a two-way deal immediately after the 2023 NBA draft, Council earned a standard deal by season’s end. In 32 games, Council averaged 5.4 points and 1.4 rebounds. The rookie stayed ready no matter what was going on and he showed enough to coach Nick Nurse and the Sixers to earn a longer-term opportunity.

It also helped that he was on a veteran-laden team able to show him the ropes. When asked which veteran was the most influential for him, Council IV showed no hesitation.

“Tobias Harris,” he said bluntly. “My guy. He was real big for me. Just from the beginning of the year, I figured that was kind of my position — the three/four — so I was just watching him. And he’s the type of vet — some people are going to be like, ‘I love this vet because he gave me a lot of money, he got me things, he took me shopping.’ That was never him. He didn’t get me my first materialistic thing until the other day. He gave me a bag because he didn’t like the duffel bag I was wearing. He got me a Goyard bag, so I appreciate that.”

Harris has always been known as a veteran leader who takes young players under his wing. He is a solid player who has his head on straight and is a reliable voice in the locker room.

“All he was giving me was advice and helping me,” Council said. “‘When we’re at halftime, be the first one out.’ There’s a lot of things. I can’t even put everything into words, but he’s helped me a lot. He gets a lot of hate, and I don’t know where it comes from. He’s a really good person. And obviously Tyrese (Maxey). He’s helped a lot, too. He’s more around my age, so it’s kind of like a big brother and a middle-aged brother. Yeah, them two for sure.”

As Council heads into the offseason, he will take some important lessons from Harris and Maxey.

“The work ethic from Tyrese, and the professionalism from Tobias is unreal,” he finished. “And that’s why I was glad I had him in my corner this whole year. I appreciate him for that, wherever he’s at next year. If it’s here, I would absolutely love it. If not, he said that I’ll always be in his corner. So it’ll be good to have that.”

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Daryl Morey discusses whether Tobias Harris can help championship team

Philadelphia 76ers president Daryl Morey discusses whether Tobias Harris can help a championship contending team.

CAMDEN, N.J. — As the Philadelphia 76ers head into the offseason, there are questions that need to be answered by President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and the rest of the front office.

The Sixers have a slew of free agents, and one of them is Tobias Harris, who just finished the five-year $180 million deal he signed in 2019. The veteran out of Tennessee had another solid season with averages of 17.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists while shooting 48.7% from the floor and 35.3% from deep.

However, his numbers dipped drastically in the postseason. He averaged just 9 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 43.1% from the floor and 33.3% from deep. His field goal attempts dropped from 13.6 in the regular season to 8.5 in the playoffs. His 3-point attempts dropped from 3.7 to 3. He was scoreless on 0-for-2 shooting in the Game 6 elimination game.

This is not the first time his playoff numbers have not been what the Sixers needed. While Harris is an impact player, one has to wonder whether he can be a contributor on a championship team and whether Philadelphia will bring him back in free agency on a smaller deal.

“Tobias for sure can be a contributing player on a contender,” President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey said. “In terms of back, I give the same answer I just gave — we have interest in all our free agents. … You’re always trying to fit in as many good, solid players as you can given the CBA bucket that we’re given and it’s really not ‘does this player help?’ It’s ‘does this player help within the context of the CBA’ and whatever number they’re at, what constraints that creates for other positions you might want to help.”

To Morey’s point, it will come down to whether the Sixers can fit him into their payroll. Despite always being a reliable and solid player, one has to believe Harris’s time in Philadelphia is likely over due to his playoff shortcomings.

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Tobias Harris evaluates season for Sixers, reason for falling to Knicks

Tobias Harris evaluates the season for the Philadelphia 76ers and gives his thoughts on the loss to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have much to figure out following a first-round loss to the New York Knicks. They will evaluate where they stand and how they are going to move forward this offseason.

One player who is a free agent is Tobias Harris. He has likely played his final game in a Sixers uniform, but he had a productive 2023-24 season. He averaged 17.2 points and 6.5 rebounds while shooting 48.7% from the floor and 35.3% from deep.

The postseason was a struggle as his numbers dropped to 9 points on 43.1% shooting and 33.3% from deep in the series against the Knicks, but he and the team battled.

“It was a tough year just because of the injuries that we had as a group,” Harris explained. “I think that we definitely showed — we have the talent in this locker room and on this team. I wish we would’ve had more time to jell and to see it through and have everyone healthy, but it was an up-and-down year for us as a group. We were composed in this series. We definitely came out game after game and gave our all in this series. Just an unfortunate result.”

The entire series was closely contested. The series’ cumulative point differential was one point, in favor of the Knicks. Harris and the Sixers were unable to come up with the clutch plays down the stretch New York was consistently able to get.

“Fourth quarter execution,” Harris said of the series loss. “They got what they wanted and was able to convert. Too many second-chance plays for them as well that hurt us down in the fourth. I thought, overall, the way we started the game. We were down, we battled back, and kinda fought through. We just weren’t able to sustain the lead and hold onto it. Give them credit. They made big shots. They made big plays and stuck with it. A tough way to go out.”

It will be interesting to see what happens in free agency with Harris. He will likely not return, but there will be a team out there that will pay for his services.

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Joel Embiid gives shoutout to Tobias Harris for his contributions to Sixers

Joel Embiid gives a shoutout to Tobias Harris for his contributions to help the Philadelphia 76ers after the Game 5 win.

NEW YORK — It had been a tough series for Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris against the New York Knicks. The versatile forward was averaging 8.8 points and shooting just 29.5% from deep. That isn’t the production the Sixers need from him in this series.

In Game 5 with the season on the line, Harris produced in a big way. He had 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and knocked down three 3s. He was active on the defensive end and gave the Sixers a big spark on both ends.

After the Game 5 win, Joel Embiid wanted to make sure Harris got his flowers despite the tough offensive showing.

“He also deserves a lot of credit,” he said of Harris. “Obviously, making shots is a whole different story. It happens. Sometimes you make shots, sometimes you don’t, but I think he’s been great on the defensive end. He’s been hustling. He’s been rebounding the ball.”

To Embiid’s point, Harris has found other ways to contribute in this series. He has been terrific on the defensive end and he has been grabbing rebounds at a high rate. His contributions in other ways helps him be a positive player despite the offensive struggles.

“I think he’s been doing other things and that’s the way I look at it,” Embiid finished. “When you don’t got it going offensively, what else can you do to help the team? That’s usually the other side of it — on the floor. I think he’s been trying. I think he’s been giving himself up to us and we just appreciate him.”

The Sixers need Harris to continue to give a strong effort as they look to stave off elimination again in Game 6 back at home on Thursday.

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Nick Nurse singles out Tobias Harris after Sixers beat Knicks in Game 5

Nick Nurse singles out Tobias Harris after the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the New York Knicks in Game 5 to stay alive.

NEW YORK — The Philadelphia 76ers received one phenomenal performance out of Tyrese Maxey as he came alive for a career playoff-high 46 points, but the Sixers got some big plays out of Tobias Harris down the stretch to earn a 112-106 overtime win over the New York Knicks in Game 5.

Harris pumped in 19 points on 7-for-11 shooting and knocked down three triples to help the Sixers get the job done. Obviously, Maxey was the hero on Tuesday and he is going to get all the headlines and the flowers, but Harris was terrific.

“He was really good,” said coach Nick Nurse. “I thought he made the shot of the night to be honest with you. We were down five and spinning out of control and he came down and made a super tough, 17-foot turnaround to cut it back to three after the momentum, the place was going crazy, and that to me was the second-best shot of the night.”

Nurse isn’t wrong about Harris. The Knicks went up 82-77 on an OG Anunoby jumper with 5:45 left and Madison Square Garden was going crazy. Harris calmly hit a 17-footer and Philadelphia really needed it.

When Harris is going like he was on Tuesday, he changes things.

“It’s huge,” Joel Embiid added. “When Tobias plays well, I think we have a high chance to win any game. Like I’ve been saying all season long, for us to win, we have to be perfect. Everybody has to somehow play well and we all have to play well at the same time.”

As the Sixers head back to Philadelphia down 3-2, they will need more from Harris. He is going to be the big X-Factor for this group. If he plays well, Philadelphia will have a great chance to get it done.

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Sixers remain confident vs. Knicks despite facing elimination

The Philadelphia 76ers are remaining confident against the New York Knicks as they face elimination on the road.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers are in an extremely tough position as they make the trek back to New York City on Tuesday. The Knicks went into the Wells Fargo Center and took Game 4 on Sunday pushing Philadelphia to the brink in the first round.

The Sixers went cold in the fourth and shot just 6-for-24. The Knicks weren’t much better at 6-for-21, but New York won the rebounding battle, 18-8, in the fourth. The Knicks grabbed seven offensive rebounds, leading to 11 second-chance points.

“I thought OG (Anunoby) and Precious (Achiuwa) and those guys were really a factor,” Nurse said after Game 4. “They were both very energetic. Very athletic. Getting their hands on some balls. (Josh) Hart, obviously, got his share, but Precious came in there and got four and probably got his hands on two or three more. Certainly became a big factor in the fourth.”

Through four games of this series, the point differential is plus-4 in favor of New York. It has been tightly contested, which is why coach Nick Nurse is confident the Sixers can still rally.

“We gotta play better, right?” Nurse added. “We just gotta play better. It was a helluva game. Again, it could’ve went either way. We were up 10 twice in both halves, right? Like, we played good. Again, the stretches when we’re not good have gotta be just slightly below average rather than really bad. Those stretches you’re not gonna play great all the time, but those stretches need to be a little bit more around average. Yeah.”

The Sixers have to play like they understand every possession matters. This is a veteran-laden roster that has a wealth of playoff experience. As Philadelphia heads back into Madison Square Garden, it will have to draw on that experience and get this series back to the Wells Fargo Center.

“Just to stay the course of it, but also know that it’s a must-win game, and understand that we have to be the more physical team,” added Tobias Harris. “I think last game that we played (Game 3), we had a conscious effort of that. Of getting to the glass and keeping them off the glass and outside of that, just running. Making their looks a lot harder than they were tonight, but that was the opposite. We know that and we have to stick to that game plan.”

The Sixers will have to fight for their lives in Game 5 on Tuesday evening.

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Multiple Sixers give their take on rebounding struggles in loss to Knicks

Multiple members of the Philadelphia 76ers give their take on the rebounding struggles in the Game 4 loss to the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had their chances on Sunday against the New York Knicks. It was a Game 4 in their building down 2-1 in the series and the game was in the balance down the stretch.

A familiar issue popped up for the Sixers in this series: the inability to keep the Knicks off the glass.

New York grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter that led to 11 second-chance points. Joel Embiid grabbed one rebound in the final frame.

“I think part of it is, obviously, their best player that they trust and they don’t care if he takes 40 shots a game,” Embiid said after the loss. “I think most of the time when you’re in rotation or when you’re trying to load up to make sure he doesn’t get easy shots, that kinda gives them a lot of open lanes to just attack the offensive glass. It almost seems like they just know he’s gonna shoot it and they’re just getting ready to offensive rebound.”

Rebounding has been a key point in this series. Coach Nick Nurse has pointed it out to this group all series, and the Knicks were still able to do what they do down the stretch. OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa combined for five of the seven offensive rebounds.

“You know what’s crazy about that is Nurse kept saying, he’s going to show them film from Game 1,” added Tyrese Maxey. “Games 2 and 3, we did a great job of just boxing out and grabbing every single rebound for the most part, until the end of Game 2.”

Before Game 4, Nurse made it a point to show the Sixers the importance of crashing the glass.

“He said it, he kept saying it, he kept saying it before the game, ‘Guys, I promise you they are going to show them film, Thibs is going to show them film from Game 1 saying listen this is how we have to beat this team. We have to go in there, we have to go in there and grab every single rebound.’” Maxey added. “And for the most part, we did a decent job, it’s just the fourth quarter they got some extra possessions that cost us.”

Even with the rebounding struggles in the fourth quarter, there was a stretch in the third when it appeared the Sixers would pull away. Philadelphia was unable to do so, and it allowed the Knicks to stay in it.

“I thought in that second half, that third quarter stretch, we had too many possessions where we didn’t get a look up there,” added Tobias Harris. “Whether it was a turnover or just disorganization from us on the offensive end and then they were able to capitalize, but the name of the game was that stretch that we had there and also, on the offensive boards for them.”

At the end of the day, the Sixers needed to execute on the glass and were unable to do so.

“I think we had a lot of bad bounces,” added Embiid. “You look at the game, every single shot, it just felt like it kept falling in their hands. Sometimes, you can do the best job possible to try and box out, but if the ball doesn’t bounce your way, there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Game 5 is Tuesday back in New York.

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Tobias Harris seeing Joel Embiid continue to be a fighter, leader for Sixers

Tobias Harris sees Joel Embiid continuing to grow as a fighter and a leader for the Philadelphia 76ers.

PHILADELPHIA — Game 3 on Thursday night could have gone off the rails for Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers. Trailing the New York Knicks 2-0 and the series shifting to the Wells Fargo Center, there was already a lot of hype and intensity for this matchup.

Embiid appeared to be doing a bit too much. He picked up a tough offensive foul, was screaming at officials, and was then called for a flagrant-1 foul when he grabbed Mitchell Robinson’s leg while he was on the ground.

When weird things happen like that in the past, it normally spelled trouble for the Sixers. Instead, Embiid shook that off and dropped a career playoff-high 50 points on only 19 field goal attempts. He was masterful all night long in a win.

“I saw him extremely composed out there for the whole group, obviously,” said Tobias Harris who has played with Embiid the longest on this roster. “After those first two fouls that happened from then on, he was setting balance into the game. So, that was a huge reason why we got the victory tonight and also a 50-point performance from him.”

Harris has been with Embiid through every playoff run. He has seen the ups and the downs. He has seen him continue to grow as a fighter and a leader for the Sixers. He sees the hunger he has shown to continue to improve as a player.

“He’s always a fighter for the group and wants to win and wants to contribute,” Harris added. “I’m not in the man’s body so I don’t know what he’s going through, but as anybody in this locker room will say, we’re just happy to have him out there with us.”

No matter what happens in this series, or even this playoff run as a whole, Embiid deserves everybody’s respect. He is putting his body on the line for the city of Philadelphia and the entire Sixers franchise. He probably shouldn’t be playing when considering the knee injury and the Bell’s Palsy, but he is out there and putting up incredible performances.

“All of us in the locker room, we understand what he means for this team and the impact he brings to our group,” Harris finished. “So when we have him on the floor, we know we are that much of a better team.”

The Sixers will look to even the series with a Game 4 win on Sunday.

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Sixers give love to Cam Payne for big performance in Game 3 vs. Knicks

The Philadelphia 76ers gave a lot of love to Cam Payne for his efforts in a Game 3 win over the New York Knicks.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers picked up a huge 125-114 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 on Thursday thanks to the heroics of Joel Embiid. The big fella had a playoff career-high 50 points despite the knee injury and Bell’s Palsy bothering him.

However, a big factor in the win was the play of Cam Payne. The spark plug hopped off the bench and had 11 points while knocking down three 3s. He had eight points in the second quarter and gave Philadelphia a boost on both ends of the floor.

Along with the eight points, he also had two blocks.

“Unbelievable,” Kyle Lowry said. “I think Cam Payne was the MVP of this game. He’s staying ready. He’s always constantly got energy and he’s a guy who’s been in this situation before. high energy, high-level IQ, and we need that. It’s a guy in the playoffs that always steps up for you and every single game, it’s a different guy and tonight, Cam Payne was our real-life X factor.”

To Lowry’s point, there is always somebody who steps up in the postseason to give his team a big boost. On Thursday, that guy was Payne as he came up with the big plays the Sixers needed off the bench to match what the Knicks were receiving from theirs.

“That’s what we expect out of him,” Kelly Oubre Jr. added. “Energy and then coming in and kinda keeping us alive. That’s exactly what he did tonight, but it’s tough to stay ready when things change a lot, but for him, he’s been in a lot of big moments. He’s been in a lot of big games and finals and things like that so we lean on him just for the energy and everything he brings to the game of basketball.”

The bench unit was a big factor in New York’s wins in games 1 and 2. The Knicks received big performances from Deuce McBride, Bojan Bogdanovic and Mitchell Robinson. Philadelphia responded in Game 3 with Payne stepping up.

“It was huge,” Tobias Harris stated. “Just his energy. His shot-making as well. His speed. Just to get a different dynamic for us out there on the floor. I just know he did a great job embracing the moment and got going for us.”

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