Philadelphia 76ers’ Summer of Blunders

Let’s waste even more money .. how about Tobias Harris?

Thinking at the time: The Sixers still did not look like title contenders last season despite the Jimmy Butler trade so, at the trade deadline, Brand gave the Clippers a boatload of draft assets that Sam Hinkie had collected plus rookie sharpshooter Landry Shamet (which brings the question: If you are not bringing Redick back, why give away Shamet? Your only other good outside shooter) for Tobias Harris.

Harris had been having a just-below All-Star season with the Clippers. He was a good low-volume outside shooter who did not need the ball, so the analytic people gave the thumbs up.

Rolling out a lineup of Harris, Embiid, Simmons, Butler and Redick seemed downright scary. Teams would have to pick their poison on who to leave open. Now, with Horford on board, the Sixers’ frontline would be even scarier this season.

With Butler and Redick gone, there would be more room for Harris to operate and more shots for him to take, so the Sixers signed him to an almost-max deal: $180 million for five years. Yeah, it was a lot of money, but Harris had plenty of suitors waiting for him to go free agent if the Sixers did not pony up the bucks — so the signing was a no-brainer.

Blunder: Harris the great shooter did not shoot well with the Sixers last year. His shooting percentage dropped to 46.9 percent and his 3-point shots were terrible. He made 32.6 percent of his shots from beyond the arc, about the same as Embiid.

The playoffs were no better. In Game 4, Harris shot a horrific 7-for-23 from the field. If he makes half his shots, the Sixers probably win that game, go up 3-1 on the Raptors and everything changes.

So despite not fitting in and not performing well when it counted, the Sixers signed him to a huge contract.

Basically, after giving up so much for Butler and then Harris, to have both of them walk after playing less than a season with the Sixers would have been a major embarrassment to the organization. Harris’ wily father-agent realized it and bled Brand for every dollar he could.

As for this season, Harris has been even worse in the playoffs, shooting 33.3 percent in the first three games. Does a hot-shooting Harris turn things around for the Sixers when they lost close games to the Celtics in Games 1 and 3? Maybe.

But the Sixers have  four more years (!) of a good player being paid like a superstar who in two tries has not excelled in the playoffs.