The Sixers added another star at the trade deadline in Tobias Harris and the 26-year-old is thrilled to be in Philadelphia.
“It was awesome,” Harris said of playing alongside new teammates (via ESPN’s Tim Bontempts).“In all seriousness, you couldn’t ask for anything more. Me personally, I’m just sitting here like, ‘Wow.’ … It was fun.”
The Sixers sacrificed depth over the past few months in order to put together a lineup of Harris, Jimmy Butler, Ben Simmons, J.J. Redick, and Joel Embiid. The lineup showed its potential in Friday night’s win over the Nuggets where it went on a 14-7 over the last four minutes to close out the game.
“It was funny … after the game, somebody texted me and sent me a video of me smiling after a play,” Harris said. “They wrote, ‘This is literally the first time I’ve ever seen you actually smile in a game.’ And I was like, ‘You ain’t lying.”
“It was cool to see that and just have fun out there. I really had a lot of fun tonight.”
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- GM Elton Brand said he’s received “all assurances” from the Sixers’ ownership that the team can re-sign both Harris and Butler, Bontemps tweets.“We’re all on board to keep this core together long-term,” Brand said.
- By trading for Butler and Harris, the Sixers were no longer in position to be patient with Markelle Fultz, Bontemps explains in a separate piece. The team is built to win now and that, coupled with Fultz’s salary, which will come in at nearly $9.75MM next season, made it time to move on.
- Brand reiterated that the Sixers are focused on the present, Bontemps passes along in another piece. The GM said the team had been targeting Harris “if he became available” and the team had “coveted” him for a while. “We know he fits great into our system and he’ll do well,” Brand said of Harris. “[Simmons and Embiid] rapidly improved over the last season, so the window is now. The opportunity is now. So, once I saw that, we discussed taking a shot at it now, because who knows how long that window is going to be open?”
- Prior to Friday’s night win, Harris said he’s hopeful his time with Sixers can be a “long-term partnership,” per an Associated Press report (via NBC Sports). Boban Marjanovic, who was also acquired in the Harris deal, explained how the 76ers’ gumption inspired him and Harris.“We understand the team invested a lot in us,” the center said. “It was a big move. It was a win-now move. That means a lot. This is already a winning culture and we look to bring our games to it and help as best we can.”
Boban is a big upgrade to the backup C position for PHI
Not really imo, he’s slow and for how big he is that dude misses a fair amount of shots and put-backs. I’d trust Amir Johnson and especially Jonah Bolden way more
huh! you can’t be serious do you even watch basketball Boban is way better then Amir & Bolden can’t play backup C he’s too small
Amir is past his prime, while Boban isn’t perfect, he’s a great 12-15 mpg player to spell Embiid so that the Sixers can maintain a solid lineup and not have to play a player out of position.
You’re way off brother.
That philly bench d looking good with Boban
Their bench is garbage. Have no depth. Still fourth best team in the east. Boston Toronto and Milwaukee are still better ….
Pleased with Brands moves. Best we could have hoped for. And got more that I thought he could get for Fultz who would barely even crack the lineup if healthy.
told you the fan had zero insight into what the Sixers were going to do
Stay in jersey.
the “cuz” was conceived when a geno’s cheesesteak fell into a bowl of alfredo sauce
the “cuz” was conceived when a geno’s cheesesteak fell into a bowl of alfredo sauce
TTP
For the first time in like 5 years, this is going to be a great playoffs
Elton Brand for exec of the year!
That’s for sure, Philly has a winning culture… rings are gonna come soon enough!!!
Still,2 me,need a backup.point. who can we sign? Sixers fan.
Lin if he gets bought out
Already have 2 high turnover guys on the team. Reason they lose or almost lose games are turnovers. Lin is as bad as Simmons.