The Pistons have reached a two-year, $52MM agreement with free agent forward Tobias Harris, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). There are no options on either side, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Harris, 31, ranked 16th on our list of the top 50 free agents this summer. He can play either forward spot and will bring much-needed shooting to Detroit, along with a veteran presence for a young locker room.
Harris was a reliable scorer and valuable all-around player during his five-plus years in Philadelphia. He averaged 17.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists this season with a shooting line of .487/.353/.878.
The move marks a return to Detroit for Harris, who played for the Pistons from February of 2016 to January of 2018. He was well-traveled before landing with the Sixers, being drafted by the Charlotte Bobcats in 2011 and spending time with four other franchises in his first eight years in the league.
This is the first signing for a Detroit team that headed into free agency with more than $58MM in cap room, and it’s the first major roster addition under new head of basketball operations Trajan Langdon.
The Pistons project to have roughly $26.5MM remaining, estimates Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (via Twitter), factoring in a cap hold for Simone Fontecchio. They hold Early Bird rights on the 28-year-old small forward and can offer him a new deal worth up to $58MM over four years.
Langdon appeared on the verge of making another significant move on Sunday night, as the Pistons reportedly neared a max extension with Cade Cunningham, the top pick in the 2021 draft.
This guy has the greatest agent ever for him to keep getting big money….
If you look at his numbers, they are not bad. In fact, consistent. Considering IH just got paid more, it’s not a bad deal. Lastly, this guy is humble…hard not to like him.
If you look within his 17 points per game average, you’ll find many games in which he was in single digits or just above.
How.many of those games was he playing with multiple guys that need the ball in their hands, on the floor with him…
Exactly, it’s hard to average good points when Ebmiid and Maxey were shooting 60+ times combined and the rest of the team got scraps.
Embiid and Maxey never had a game last season where they combined for 60 FGA (the most I can find is 58 against the Pacers – the team took 105 shots as a whole – and Tobias took 20 himself). When Embiid went down last year, the Sixers needed Harris to step up. He didn’t. In the 23 games without Embiid last year, he averaged 16.3 points per game on 14.6 FGA per game.
And, as others have said, he vanished in the playoffs (specifically, Game 6 – 0-2 in 29 minutes).
I like Tobi. Felt he always got a bad rap for taking the money offered to him (because the rest of the FO messed up). But let’s not pretend he didn’t get chances to succeed.
The scoring isn’t as big of an issue given that he’s multi-faceted and can do a bit of everything, but he’s just a roleplayer. He’s not a guy you can trust in clutch moments and while he can shoot pretty well off-ball, he can’t be trusted to create for others or himself outside of the occasional change-of-pace play.
But he is capable in the half court as a guy you can post on the elbow
Well that means he had just as many games of over 20 25 points a game, then
17 pts / gm average doesn’t mean he scores 17 a few times then 8 or 9 the rest lol
@replied – like some have pointed out, when either Embiid or Maxey go on heaters, why would he. Or when he played with Harden? To drop 17 per when surrounded by those types of players, it’s not a bad accomplishment. His percentages are also solid, not to mention his defensive numbers and boards. Playoffs have been a different story for him, but first you need to get there. He’s a solid 4th option or even off the bench 30+ minute guy to carry a second unit.
You absolutely right Tobias Harris numbers aren’t bad at all. Then he’s consistent. Regular season wise not in the playoffs. Good numbers across the board it’s just when he was getting 5 years $180 million and the Philadelphia 76ers kept him over Jimmy Butler is when he looked at crazy. 2 years $52 million is a good contract for him and should bring shooting and leadership to the Detroit Pistons.
Funny thing is. His agent is his dad lol.
Props to pops!
He’s a humble kid. Really down to earth. It’s even more amazing when you have your dad rep you and be part of that life as well.
Must have the same agent as the former NFL QB Sam Bradford
His Dad is his agent
He better give the best gifts ever for Father’s Day then.
He’s better than Hartenstein and got paid less.
No he is not lol
I mean u can’t disappoint in the playoffs if u go to a team with zero chance of making the playoffs
wow, they really blew their wad on some dude no one wants. Will be hard to trade him at that AAV
Cade at max, Tobias signing, Holland 1st rd pick, Bickerstaff as coach, … Pistons will remain a sh*t team for rest of decade. Wash, rinse, repeat.
At least they’ve put themselves in the best position to get Cooper.
They’ll pick 5th again. Lol
There are other reasons to be down on their future, but you chose weird examples. How does a 2-year contract make them s**t for the rest of the decade?
I hope us Sixer fans will give him the goodbye he deserves. Yes, he never really became the player they had hoped. Yes, he was way too streaky to be tempted upon. But yes, he definitely busted his a$$ out there. All three best Tobias! But maybe sprinkled with a small topping of “good riddance”.
He didn’t busy anything. He would literally stand in the corner for an entire corner.
I just view him as a bench player but Pistons are desperate for free agents and way over paid for him. Piston fans should just be glad its a 2 year deal who will not hurt their cap space. is he better than Wiggins? Not even close but getting paid about the same.
Maybe if you mean Wiggins of two years ago, but did you see him this year? And the 2 year deal is exactly the point, like what Houston did last year — add shooting and veteran presence while you figure out your pieces and line up an heir at the position. Just not sure what’s so unreasonable here.
OKC just paid more than that per year for Hartenstein, who is nothing more than a good backup center. It is the cost of doing business in the NBA.
Tobias Harris’s agent is putting up Wilt numbers
Listen it’s a 2 year deal and the terms of the 2nd year haven’t even co e out yet. Maybe he has a player option for year 2. Detroit needed help on the wing and some solid veteran presence. They added 1 year of THJ and 2 years of TH. They have still got nearly $25M available to spend/trade with yet.
Dario Saric makes some sense as a big who can stretch the floor as does Muscala. We just have to wait and see. They’ve still got a lot of money left and it isn’t like this contract will restrict them long term. It’s a bridge deal to get them to the next stage while Ausur and Holland hopefully develop.
When will people realize that the NBA Is a BUSINESS. Tobias has been in the league since 2011(he’s only 31). Has never gotten in any trouble, & has been in the post season plenty of times. Youre not paying him for just basketball. Youre paying him for locker room presence & experience.
When you pay a guy $26 million per season you damn well better be paying him primarily for basketball. Udonis Haslem was not getting paid anything like that to be a locker room guy for all those years in Miami.
Let’s compare a 17ppg scorer to a guy who wasn’t even in the rotation.
Stealing and not producing when it matters… Agent understood the assignment.
The Pistons had a lot of cap space they needed to use and they had to overpay to bring in someone bigger . It’s a definite overpay and not an ideal landing spot for a vet chasing a ring but in all fairness he likely is a trade candidate once he becomes eligible in six months
He’s obviously not a vet chasing a ring.
No contender would sign him. Let’s be honest.
They need a veteran SG now to start
I want to see Tobias stand next to Duren to see how tall Duren is
Nevermind they have Tim H jr but if Duren is 6’9 then put him at PF
Should fit well as a scoring 4, and complement Ausar thomspon and Ron Holland, ahead of newly drafted Bob Klintman, who has that example for him…
It all depends on what rotation they put on the floor though, b/c none of it matters if they’re going to play 17 bigs together or several guards that can’t shoot
Tobias obviously doesn’t care about winning. Chasing dollars instead of rings.
Someone has to. Championships are for fans. This is how these guys make money not winning titles. Do you work so your companies CEO can get a bigger bonus or because you got bills to pay?
Facts of life suck but there they are, staring us down.
…I guess it’s your job to determine how people should live their lives, and provide for their families
This dude took way more blame for Philly’s inability to win in the playoffs than he ever should have. He was, is and always will be a good 3rd scoring option. Blaming Tobias for Philly not being able to win is like blaming Jeff Hornacek for the Jazz not beating Jordan.
Gah dam 52??? Lord have mercy get your money Tobias
“Tobias Harris got what?”
– Jimmy Buckets
The Tobias hate is just silly at this point. Y’all are weird and obsessed.
It’s fine in terms of fit, shooting, and regular season production, which is exactly what the Pistons need in the short term.
This was a given. Also once Weaver left, I think they couldn’t do Miles Bridges, Tobias is like the anti Miles.