Why Tobias Harris should be the Cleveland Cavaliers’ primary target next year
Don’t call it a comeback or a rebuild for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Call it a reset. One that could include Los Angeles Clippers combo forward Tobias Harris as a cornerstone.
In the event that Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Kevin Love chooses not to opt into the final year of his contract, the Wine and Gold will have enough money to chase a max free agent in 2019. Of that pool of free agents, one All-Star caliber player fits the Cavs more than any other: Los Angeles Clippers combo forward Tobias Harris.
According to TNT analyst David Aldridge, Harris recently turned down an extension with the Clippers in order to secure a max contract next summer. With that said, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ best chance to sign Harris would be by offering him a max contract.
Clippers forward @tobias31 turns down $80 million extension offer from team, per sources. Amicable discussions. But he’ll play out final year of his current deal and be UFA next summer, when he’d be eligible for 5 yrs/$188M max from Clips or 4/$145.5 elsewhere.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) July 22, 2018
At 6-foot-9, 235 pounds, Harris has emerged as a deadeye shooter who can also put the ball on the floor. Cavs head could Tyronn Lue would love Harris; he can stretch the floor and, thanks to his solid athleticism, he can do so without being a defensive liability that teams look to exploit.
A starting lineup of Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, Cedi Osman, Larry Nance Jr. and Harris could actually be one of the league’s best five-man units, despite the lack of star power.
While each player is capable of being a solid defender in that lineup, Sexton, Osman and Nance have the potential to be elite defenders.
Offensively, there’s an easy fit on paper with Sexton’s breakneck pace reminiscent of All-Star point guards Russell Westbrook and John Wall; Hood’s impressive and diverse scoring repertoire; Osman’s point-forward playmaking; Nance Jr.’s budding jumper and vertical explosion; and Harris’ sharpshooting, dribble-drives and ability to post-up players allowing Lue to run the fast-paced, egalitarian post-LeBron era offense.
If they have the chance, adding the 26-year-old Harris, a seven-year NBA veteran who averaged 18.6 points, 5.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.9 steals per game on 46.0 percent shooting from the field and 41.1 percent shooting from three last season, is a no-brained.
He’s one of the league’s most underrated stars and a particularly gifted scorer, even if he has yet to cross the 20-points-per-game plateau as a scorer.
According to Basketball Reference, Harris was just one of four players in the league last year to average at least 18.0 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from three. All-Stars Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and Karl Anthony-Towns were the other three.
This is probably going to be the biggest issue but ... there were only 4 players to average 18 pts and 5 rbs/g while shooting 46%+ from the field and 41%+ from three last season.. Karl Anthony-Towns, Durant, Curry and Tobias Harris. Harris is the 2nd-youngest player on that list. https://t.co/wzRZ9mUWOz
— King Q (B-loved Watcher) (@belovedkingq) July 23, 2018
How he’s flown under-the-radar, despite his youth and talent level, is reminiscent of Boston Celtics All-Star Gordon Hayward.
Hayward, who signed a four-year max contract with the Celtics last offseason, averaged 19.2 points per game across the four seasons prior to his signing. He wasn’t universally considered to be one of the best players in the league though, despite his scoring prowess.
Harris faces that same dilemma.
The bigger question that a team would have is if Harris is worth the full-max contract.
While it may be a different answer for different franchises, the Cavaliers are one of the team’s that shouldn’t worry about it they’re overpaying Harris. Attracting All-Star caliber free agents without LeBron in-town will be difficult for the Cavs and, if they want to be a competitive squad, there are worse routes to take than a player who managed to fit his name on a list with Curry and Durant.
Furthermore, of the players who will be free agents next summer — Klay Thompson, Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kristaps Porzingis (restricted) and Karl Anthony-Towns (restricted) are a few of the stars expected to hit the market just to name a few — Harris is the most feasible max contract free agent option for the Cavs.
Not only is it feasible he’ll actually choose to leave his team, unlike other players on that list — especially in search of a max contract — but he plays at two positions that have an All-Star-sized void on the Cavs depth chart. At 26-years-old, he fits in perfectly with the Cavs’ youth movement.
Furthermore, without a 20-point scorer on the roster, Harris has no players that will dominate the ball enough to negatively effect his stats.
Oh, he’s also the cousin of a Cleveland Cavaliers fan favorite: Channing Frye.
Frye might be fond enough the Cavs organization enough to put in a good word for both a city full of loving fans and a franchise with a championship culture thanks to LeBron. After all, Frye re-signed with the Cavs after they traded him at the trade deadline and after LeBron took his talents to Hollywood.
To that point, because Frye is going to constantly be around the same players that could be Harris’ future teammates, he can give Harris a first-hand account of the work ethic and talent level of the current Cavs.
On July 1, 2019, the Cleveland Cavaliers should be the first team to contact Harris at the start of free agency.
A New York-native who Cavs general manager Koby Altman, a Brooklyn-native, might be able to connect with, Harris would be a worthwhile pick-up for the Cleveland Cavaliers next summer should he play at least as well as he did last season in the upcoming season.
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*All stats gathered from www.basketball-reference.com