Throughout his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers, the team has never expressed interest in trading Tobias Harris. Despite this, the veteran forward is still garnering attention leading up to the trade deadline.
A few weeks ago, rumors surfaced that the Detroit Pistons might have interest in trading for Harris. According to recent developments, they might not be the only team. While on FanDuel TV, NBA insider Shams Charania implied a handful of teams have Harris on their radar.
"Tobias Harris, he's a guy on the expiring year of his deal, 39 million dollars this season, and he's been the one-two punch at different points," Shams said. "A lot of teams are keeping an eye on him and seeing what exactly happens with him. The Sixers want to keep him around."
The Sixers traded for Harris during the 2018-19 season. Since then, he has become one of the pillars of the franchise. He is well respected in the locker room and has been a leader for this team on and off the floor.
Harris had a strong start to the season but has cooled off a little in recent weeks. That said, he is still putting up solid numbers as the team's third option. Through 27 games, he is averaging 16.0 PPG, 6.0 RPG, and 2.7 APG. His three-point shooting has taken a slight dip, connecting on just 34.2% of his attempts.
Since he's on an expiring contract, it's worth doing due diligence on what the market value is for a guy like Harris. That said, the team shouldn't be in any particular hurry to move on from him.
A Harris trade should only go down if it's a move that clearly ups their chances of competing for a championship. Aside from that, moving such a key piece of the locker room mid-season is not a smart decision.
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