Sixers: 3 early season overreactions after sluggish start

Sixers overreaction: Tobias Harris should come off the bench

Tobias Harris deserves a lot of credit. He has successfully streamlined his shot profile, averaging the highest 3-point volume of his career on the fewest total shot attempts since his sophomore season in Orlando. He’s doing what we all asked him to do: take more 3s, limit mid-range attempts, and commit to defending.

Here’s the thing, though. Even with Harris playing the best brand of basketball for his skill set, and even with Harris clearly and definitively checking his ego for the betterment of the team, he still feels like a square peg in a round hole at times. Harris’ natural tendency is to catch the ball, ponder man’s place in the infinite and unfathomable universe, and then make a move. He still takes too long to make decisions and his committed effort on defense is often counterbalanced by a general lack of awareness within Philly’s new scheme.

The Sixers’ dreadful transition defense stretches well beyond Harris, but he hasn’t been part of the solution. And, he’s simply not the most natural No. 4 scoring option. He should be, but he is clearly more comfortable when he’s allowed to dribble and self-create (however unreliable the results).

The solution… well, Bryan Toporek of Bleacher Report has one. Perhaps the Sixers should replace Harris with De’Anthony Melton in the starting five. That helps patch up the starting unit’s perimeter defense while giving Harris more breathing room to score with different lineups. There’s no way Philly brings its highest-paid player off the bench, especially when he’s playing relatively well, but it could be a move that benefits all parties.