The Philadelphia 76ers have Tobias Harris on the books for four more years. How unfortunate.
It’s difficult to properly summate all the reasons why the Philadelphia 76ers are embarrassing. It’s easy to point fingers at Brett Brown, or Elton Brand, or even the ownership group. Heck, blame falls on Adam Silver and the NBA bigwigs, too. But when it comes time unleash criticism on the organization, it’s better to avoid individual scapegoats. All must burn.
With that said, this has been a season of excuses. At every turn, there has been an excuse (or multiple excuses) as to why Philadelphia was struggling, or why Philadelphia was underperforming. When blame circumvents the entire organization — when there’s no one to individually scapegoat — it becomes difficult to properly assess blame.
You cannot pin this entire season on Brett Brown. You cannot pin this entire season on Elton Brand. You cannot pin this entire season on the players. Conversely, you cannot use poor roster construction, or even poor coaching, to fully absolve the players. And you cannot use poor individual performances to absolve Brett Brown.
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The blame is universal. It is all-consuming.
And that brings me to Tobias Harris, who signed a five-year, $180 million contract extension last summer. He is not entirely to blame for Philadelphia’s season, nor is he entirely to blame for his struggles. But, at the end of the day, you cannot earn close to $40 million a year and perform as poorly as he has.
Harris is in contention for the worst contract in basketball. Not his fault — he was handed a piece of paper and asked to sign — but he is, now and forever, tied to his $180 million contract. He is also tied to his status as a generally good and productive NBA player.
He hasn’t lived up to either label in the Sixers’ first-round series against Boston.
Through three games — three losses — Harris is averaging 14.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 37.8 minutes per game. He is shooting 33.3 percent from the field, and he is a grisly 0-for-10 from deep.
That is inexcusable. No matter how poor the basketball fit is, when you’re as good as Tobias Harris — and we know he’s a good, capable NBA player — you cannot fall so egregiously short in the postseason. If nothing else, Harris has been a good shooter his entire career. His combination of hesitancy and inefficiency from deep has no explanation beyond personal failure.
The Sixers need Harris to be someone he’s not. He will never provide a capable go-to scorer in the halfcourt. He’s not someone who is comfortable generating points in isolation — not to the degree Philadelphia necessitates. He has never been a particularly quick decision-maker, and he was never going to live up to the contract Philadelphia handed him last summer.
Even if we separate Harris from his contract, and even if we acknowledge the bloated expectations placed upon his shoulders, this series has been nothing short of abysmal. This is Harris at his worst, and it has only cemented his status as arguably the most overpaid “star” in basketball.
Harris has struggled considerably in two separate postseason stints with Philadelphia. Last season, the excuse was a lack of familiarity. This season, the excuse was poor roster construction — and reasonably so. But at some point, we must come to terms with the immense disappointment that is Tobias Harris.
It’s unlikely that Philadelphia will find a trade partner willing to absorb Harris’ contract — if the front office, new or old, even decides to trade him in the first place. He’s probably going to wear a Philadelphia uniform for the next four years. And, while he will almost certainly see better days, it’s abundantly clear that the Sixers would be better off with Harris in a different uniform.
So, in short, there is not one person to blame in all this mess. You cannot blame Harris and only Harris. But, by that same logic, you cannot use the myriad of other problems to absolve Harris. He deserves scathing criticism. And so does almost everyone else. The Sixers are a collective unit of faulty parts.