Orlando Magic: Tobias Harris And His Career (Contract) Year
By Luke Duffy
It might be a stretch to call the Orlando Magic a surprise package so far this season, but there’s no doubt they’ve been better than many expected. Already they’ve won more games away from home than they did all of last season, when they could only manage four.
On top of that, they’ve occupied a playoff spot in the weak Eastern Conference for parts of the early campaign as well, a somewhat promising sign. Forward Tobias Harris has not be the only reason for this team’s good start, but he’s been an integral part.
In the final year of his contract, he’s clearly looking to get paid, but will it be the Magic who tie him down long term starting next season? Better yet, should they want to do that?
We’ll start with points, because this was a bad offensive team last season. Harris is averaging 18.5 a night this season, easily a career high. In fact, it was clear he was going to take up some of the scoring punch as far back as preseason, when he scored in double figures in every game he featured in.
Perhaps more impressively, it’s been the way in which he has scored which has really allowed this team to expand on the offensive end. Whether taking it to the hole or showing an outside shooting touch, he keeps defenders honest and spaces the floor for teammates.
More from Hoops Habit
- The 5 most dominant NBA players who never won a championship
- 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
- Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
- Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
- Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
It might surprise you to learn, but Harris is currently 27th in the league in points per night. As an interesting aside, Magic center Nikola Vucevic is 25th with 18.6 points, and the two have formed a lovely combination when on the court together.
So nice in fact, that seeing these two together and what they can do alone should be reason for Orlando to get the chequebook out, but we’ll return to that in a minute. You might think 27th in the league isn’t much, but think of how much firepower there is in the NBA.Everybody loves to score after all.
Here are the names of the players directly below him as well, to highlight how impressive he’s been.
Chris Paul, John Wall, Kevin Love and Brandon Jennings. All right, so these are either point guards or a forward who has dramatically had to adjust his game, but you get the picture. Harris is now mixing it with some of the heavyweights in this league, and he’s more than holding his own.
Even better though, this guy is a two-way player, and it’s becoming clear just how valuable that is. He gives his all most nights, even if it doesn’t always show up in the box score.
Couple that with his 8.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists (career high and good for 19th in the league among small forwards) and 1.2 steals (also a career high and eighth among small forwards) and it’s clear he’s making an impact all over the court.
Truthfully, I kind of always knew he had it in him, but sometimes he didn’t look like he was every going to show us his talent, which was frustrating to watch. In a way it’s understandable, he’s been a part of a lot of losing since arriving. But this team has turned a corner, and with it so has the play of Harris.
The guy is even taking an average of 2.2 three-point efforts a night these days, scoring at just shy of a 40 percent clip. This is a trend we started to see last season, but that seems to have been worked on over the summer to the point where it could become a useful weapon for Harris and the team.
My big worry now, is that he’ll have his head turned by other teams and more enticing projects next summer. It’s great to enjoy his play right now, there’s no question about that. But I can’t help feel that, more than it being a question of him playing better to get paid, he might be auditioning for other teams.
I’ve heard rumblings in a couple of places that the New York Knicks might take a look at him. They’ve got the hefty Amar’e Stoudemire contract coming off the books, and will be looking to surround Carmelo Anthony with as much triangle-worthy talent as possible to keep him happy.
Do I think Harris can play in the confines of the triangle? I absolutely do, and that worries me. Either way, Orlando absolutely has to spend big in order to keep this guy. The contract given to Vucevic (four years, $54 million) was somewhat of a steal, and I’d expect this team might have to give up a little bit more to keep Harris around.
That would eat into their ability to snare a first- or second-tier free agent though, and that is surely the next move for a franchise that has ideas of getting back into the playoff race for real in the next year or two.
Right now, his numbers reflect a player growing in stature in this league, and at 22 years of age, it’s exciting to see what he can become. I really hope it happens in a Magic jersey however, as he has been up there with the best things about this young team.
He works hard, has expanded his offensive game, and so far has the numbers to back it up. In fact, he might even be in the running for Most Improved Player right now. His Player Efficiency Rating of 17.9 is up above the league average of 15 as well.
It’s extremely important Orlando holds onto this guy, but already I am fearful that he might be torn from the team at the end of the year. Regardless though, he’s a key figure in the mini revival that has taken place this season, and long may it continue.
What do you think, eager to tie him down long term no matter the cost, or expendable as this team hopefully moves onto bigger and better things?
Next: Have The Magic Had One Of The Greatest Scorers In NBA History?