Getty Tobias Harris of the Philadelphia 76ers
Tobias Harris has never quite fit with the Philadelphia 76ers. Despite his reputation as a scorer before his acquisition, Harris has never found his place on the team. His father-agent, Torrel Harris, believes that the Sixers are to blame for Harris’ struggles.
When asked if he thinks the Sixers have utilized Harris properly, Torrel explained on the “Business of Sports” podcast why he doesn’t believe so.
“Personally, I don’t think so. The reason I say that, well, Tobias is an assassin scorer. I mean, they can’t stop him. Nobody in the league can stop him. So he’s proven that over his career, even when he was with the Clippers, he was an assassin scorer,” Harris said.
Torrel then added how his contract demands with the Los Angeles Clippers led to his trade to the Sixers in 2019 and how they’ve underutilized him.
“And then [L.A.] traded him ’cause they got too good [and wanted to pivot to the Draft Lottery]. They offered us $80M. I turned down the $80M. They said, ‘Wow, what are you looking for?’ I said, ‘I want about $35M a year, and they’re like, ‘What?’ — I said, ‘Yeah, $35M a year. [They] said, ‘Well, we’re not gonna pay you that.’ So they traded him to the Sixers. Ever since [then] the Sixers,’ they put him in the corner.”
Harris elaborated on why he finds it so frustrating to see how the Sixers use his son.
“They didn’t utilize him. He was not a priority in their offense, and that’s kind of frustrating because if you’re a kick-butt player…you don’t want to be in the corner twiddling your thumb.”
James Harden & Tobias Harris’ Future are Connected
With James Harden entering free agency and Harris’ max contract expiring, Matt Moore of Action Network revealed that what will help the Sixers’ chances of keeping Harden will depend on how things shake out if and when they trade Harris.
Moore also added who he believes is the most likely team to trade for Harris.
“The way for the Sixers to make room to re-sign James Harden to whatever deal he’s amenable to is to trade Harris.
“The Kings have long been thought to be the most likely landing spot for Harris, not only because of the pre-existing relationship between Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey and Kings GM Monte McNair but also with the Kings looking for a small forward alternative to Harrison Barnes.”
Moore previewed what a deal between the Sixers and Kings would look like.
“IF Harden decides to stay in Philly and IF the Kings don’t manage a trade for OG Anunoby (which again looks unlikely), then the Kings and Sixers could work out a deal for Harris. It’s not known what either side wants to include in such a deal (at least by yours truly).”
Multiple Teams Interested in Tobias Harris
On June 21, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer reported which teams were interested in Harris while adding what it would take to pry Harris from the Sixers.
“The Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Indiana Pacers have made inquiries about Harris’ availability, according to a source,” Pompey wrote.” However, another source said the Sixers will only make a deal that would be hard to pass up. As a result, teams around the league believe the Sixers are overvaluing Harris and asking for ‘outrageous packages in return,’ sources say.”
“Right now, the Sixers aren’t willing to trade him unless it drastically improves their team. But they’ll have opportunities to trade him if need be.”
