For the first time in over five years, Tobias Harris is officially no longer a member of the Philadelphia 76ers. After playing out the entirety of his five-year, $180 million contract, Harris has signed with the Detroit Pistons, agreeing to a two-year, $52 million deal.
Tobias had previously spent time in Detroit, playing 151 games for them across three seasons. The 13-year veteran brings with him over 61 games of playoff experience to a Pistons team with young players looking for guidance. A lot can be said about Tobias’s play for Philadelphia, but he was always a great locker-room presence and mentor to the younger players on the team.
The former Tennessee Volunteer came to the Sixers organization at the trade deadline during the 2018-2019 season. At that point, Harris had been averaging 20.9 points per game for an over-achieving Los Angeles Clippers team. Upon being traded to the Sixers, he rounded out the starting five with JJ Redick, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Jimmy Butler.
For Philadelphia that season, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Following their second-round exit at the hands of the eventual champion Toronto Raptors, the Sixers resigned Tobias Harris to a team record-setting five-year max contract after Jimmy Butler went to the Miami Heat.
After his initial season with the Sixers, Tobias had up-and-down seasons for Philadelphia. In his first two seasons of his max contract, Tobias put up nearly twenty points per game and was a key piece of the Sixers during their playoff runs, especially during the 2020-2021 playoffs, where he averaged 21.7 points per game on 48.8% from the field. From that point on, Tobias never averaged over 17.2 points per game and often times took on smaller and smaller roles for the team, lessening his impact constantly.
Tobias operating as a third star on a team that needed more talent never seemed to be the answer, leaving many fans to be upset. He tried to become more of a three-point shooter but was never the kind of volume shooter he needed to be to succeed. Tobias Harris, in many ways, was a far better player than most gave him credit for, but that 180 million dollar price tag placed impossible expectations on the forward to be something he was not. Hopefully, he’ll have more success in Detroit as a mentor who can score and rebound the ball effectively.
