June 21, 2019
With the 2019 NBA Draft behind us, the Sixers officially have nine days to convince free agent Tobias Harris to stay in Philadelphia.
After Sixers General Manager Elton Brand mentioned needing every dollar he can spare in explaining the selling of second-round draft picks, it seems clear the front office is planning on trying the Run It Back approach by retaining expensive free agents Jimmy Butler and Harris with big contract offers.
And, just one day after the Draft, the Sixers made a public, if largely symbolic, move that is almost exclusively a play at currying favor with Harris. The team added his younger brother, Terry Harris, to their 2019 Summer League roster after he didn't get drafted on Thursday night, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania:
Brotherly Love: Free agent Tobias Harris' younger brother, Terry Harris of North Carolina A&T, will play NBA Summer League with the Philadelphia 76ers, league sources say.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 21, 2019
Harris worked out for multiple teams during the pre-draft process, including the Sixers, and looks almost identical to his older brother:
Someone looks an awful lot like his big bro!
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) June 3, 2019
Terry Harris addresses the media after his pre-draft workout at the #Sixers practice facility, says it would be a blessing to have an opportunity to play with Tobias. pic.twitter.com/J2ipfSzIqT
Seriously, it's wild!
Outside of those details, though, there doesn't seem to be a wealth of upside to the younger Harris's game.
He played for three different schools in four years of college, never averaging more than 8.1 points per game or more than 21 minutes per game. He shot the ball very well from deep on 4.6 attempts per game last year, connecting on 41.1 percent of his looks, which is pretty good stuff. But his overall field goal percentage of 42.4 percent doesn't scream "serious potential," and his assist-to-turnover ratio (25 total assists to 49 total turnovers in more than 1,000 minutes of action) isn't ideal, either.
This is then, transparently, a move from the Sixers' front office to show the elder Harris — the one asking more than $100 million from the team's owners if he stays in town — that he matters to the franchise.
Will it pan out? We'll see. Harris is likely going to be harder to keep than Butler, and the team is making contingency plans in case Harris leaves for, say, the Nets. Things are going to heat up in a hurry, very soon.
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