Tobias Harris is moving again. This time, the 15-year veteran is taking his talents—and his notorious second-round ceiling—to San Antonio. According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Spurs are handing the soon-to-be 34-year-old a two-year, $31 million contract. It’s a classic NBA move. Pay premium cash for “veteran leadership” and hope some of it rubs off on the kids.
Last year, Harris was in Detroit. The Pistons actually won 60 games and snagged the East’s top seed, though you wouldn’t know it by how it ended. Harris did his usual thing. He averaged 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.5 assists while shooting a respectable 47/37/87. Solid. Reliable. Unspectacular.
Then came the postseason. Harris has played in 81 playoff games over his career, putting up decent lifetime numbers of 17 points, 8 boards, and 3 assists. But he has never, not once, seen the Conference Finals. He choked in Philadelphia for years, getting stuck in the second round four times. He did it again with Detroit.
The Pistons almost broke the curse. They dragged the Cleveland Cavaliers to seven games in the Eastern Conference semifinals. But when the lights got bright, Harris vanished. He put up a miserable five points on 0-for-6 shooting in 23 minutes during a Game 7 blowout loss. Cleveland rolled over them 125-94, only to get swept by the Knicks. Detroit needed a secondary scorer. Harris gave them a cardio session.
To be fair, Harris was never meant to carry the load. He was the third wheel. Cade Cunningham, despite a late-season collapsed lung, looked like a superstar and earned All-NBA First Team honors. Jalen Duren, however, shrank. The 22-year-old All-NBA Third Teamer saw his 20-and-10 regular-season average cut in half when the playoffs started.
Still, Detroit won 60 games with Cunningham (24) and Duren (22) leading the charge, and Harris gets some credit for keeping the locker room from imploding. Now, San Antonio is betting $31 million that he can do the same for their young roster. Just don’t expect him to win them a Game 7.
