Could we have a new favorite to win the Eastern Conference? The Philadelphia 76ers hope so as they went all in by acquiring forward Tobias Harris from the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday. In the deal the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott while sending Landry Shamet, Wilson, Chandler, Mike Muscala, Their 2020 1 t round pick, Miami’s 2021 first round pick as well as their 2021 and 23 2nd round picks to Los Angeles Clippers. With this trade the 76ers starting lineup now looks like this: PG Ben Simmons, SG JJ Reddick, SF Jimmy Butler, PF Tobias Harris and C Joel Embiid. What does this mean for the 76ers as a whole and what does Harris bring to the 76ers? This article will examine that and we’ll begin by looking at what Harris brings to Philadelphia.
What does Harris bring to the 76ers?
He adds another 3 point shooter to the roster. The NBA is becoming a shooting league and although they already have a few elite shooters another 3 point shooter to go with JJ Redick adds another weapon that can shoot from deep range. The Warriors are the ideal team that all other NBA teams are trying emulate. Harris is averaging 4.7 3 point shots per game and is making 2 per game giving him a 3 point % of .434 which is one of the best in the NBA. He is also averaging 20.9 points per game. Tobias Harris isn’t an elite defender or a great facilitator as he is averaging 0.7 steals per game, 0.4 blocks per game and 2.7 assists per game. He is however close to averaging a double/double per game as to go along with his 20.9 points per game he is averaging 8 total rebounds per game. He may not improve the defense of the 76ers, but he definitely does help the offense. How does this trade affect the 76ers? Let’s examine that next.
The Effect of Tobias Harris
It’s not clear after making two major trades during the season the Philadelphia 76ers are all in this season and anything short of a NBA Finals appearance the season will be a failure. The 76ers gave up a lot especially if they are unable to sign Harris to a long term deal in the offseason as they gave up multiple first and second round picks to acquire Harris. They already gave up a lot for Jimmy Butler to begin with. If they do make the NBA Finals and even somehow knock off the Golden State Warriors to win the championship then this trade will look brilliant, but if they don’t and Harris leaves this will look like a bad trade that could set the 76ers back even with Embiid and Simmons signed long term. Who won the trade? Let’s examine that next.
Winner of the Trade
In the short term I would say the 76ers won the trade as with this trade it improves an offense that was already one of the better scoring teams in the NBA and makes the 76ers arguably the favorite to win the Eastern Conference with Simmons, Emiid, Harris and Butler it gives the 76ers arguably the best starting lineup in the conference. In the long term, especially if the 76ers fail to sing Harris in the offseason, the Clippers get the better end of the deal by picking up two additional 1st round picks as well as two 2nd round picks to go along with players that could help the Clippers in the future.
In the end the trade will not be looked upon as good or bad for the 76ers until we see how far they go this season as well as if they are able to sign Harris in the offseason. I look for the 76ers to make it to at least the conference finals, but past that is really a blur especially with the Raptors and Bucks also improving their teams in the conference.
