As far back as preseason, there has been an intensity to the play of Tobias Harris of the Orlando Magic that has been refreshing. Yes he plays on a rebuilding team and yes he’s got to know this team would struggle to make the playoffs this season, yet he still gave it his all every night.
There’s a chance Harris could leave the team after this year, he is a restricted free agent, but going forward just how good can this guy be? Can he be a complimentary piece to a contending team, or indeed a cornerstone himself? Is it time to reevaluate how we perceive this guy in the league?
Harris has had a great season so far, and on many nights has been Orlando’s best player. That it was him who scored the buzzer beating winner to drop the Atlanta Hawks and their nine-game winning streak was somewhat fitting.
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Harris has been doing whatever the team needs him to this year, but with center
Nikola Vucevicback from injury, Harris didn’t have to do so much of the heavy lifting alone on the frontline.
That showed throughout the win versus the Hawks (Am I the only one who loves those sleeved grey jerseys?) as he finished with 20 points and the aforementioned big play to bring the game home.
Being honest, I never really knew how important Harris could be to this team. I was delighted when the Magic got him from the Milwaukee Bucks a couple of years back and in my mind I was sure he’d bring athletic play on both ends of the court. Well, he’s done that, but he’s also doing so much more for this team.
He’s having career years in points (18.5) and rebounds (7.8) but also turnovers as well (1.9 per game). You can live with that turnover increase though because he has the ball in his hands far more often this season.
In my mind, Victor Oladipo and Nikola Vucevic were the cornerstones of this team. Oladipo was to be the two way terror that dropped 20-5-5 while hounding opposing guards nightly.
Vucevic was (and is) to be the double-double machine who improved defensively around the rim to become a two-way center in the same league as Tyson Chandler in his prime. All of the above is starting to come together, and it excites me because I feel with the right cast around those two, that’s a playoff team down the road.
But now we have Harris, quickly becoming this team’s X-factor. He kind of reminds me of Lance Stephenson in Indiana (not their games of course, they are nothing alike) in that he does what his team needs and is the third, unpredictable prong on a team that can hurt you in various ways.
If you need scoring, rebounding or general energy, Harris is your guy. Taking the big shot the other night and hitting it, only increased both his confidence, and his value.
Ahh, his value. There is always a snag. This is a contract year for Harris, so it makes total sense that he’d play his best ever basketball to ensure he gets paid. While that’s great for him, it’s a potential headache for the Magic.
Some fans don’t think he’s worth maybe $10 million-12 million a year, which are numbers Harris himself could have his heart set on. Players want to get paid, and with Harris making a legit case at being the most improved player in the league, he’ll try and get every penny he can. Who can blame him?
Orlando will have money to spend next summer, but surely they would have had designs on dipping into the free agent market to see who is available and interested in joining a growing team. Even if the Magic stood pat and waited until the expected free agency bonanza of 2016, the money would still mostly be there to spend.
Having to use more of that then they’d like to though, is probably what it is now going to take to keep Harris. There’s always the fear another team could get involved and offer him a big contract that Orlando would then have to match if they want to keep him if they let him hang out there for a while.
It now seems though, that this guy is improving at an accelerated rate, and has made keeping him a high priority. Again, I say these things not out of shock or surprise.
We all knew Harris would turn into a reliable player in this league, but to have himself, Oladipo and Vucevic is such an exciting prospect it almost seems like surely there’s a catch.
He’s morphed into more than just a high energy forward who can do some nice things on both ends, and I think it’s time to accept that keeping him beyond this season is an absolute must.