Orlando Magic: Grading The Offseason

Most Important Move Of The Summer?

Remember when everybody just assumed that Tobias Harris to the New York Knicks was a done deal? Good times.

Last season, Harris put up 17.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the floor and a career-high 36.4 percent from three-point range. He can be a bit of a ball-stopper, but he also takes and makes big shots for his team. The big question surrounding Harris — one that Grantland’s Zach Lowe covered expertly — is whether he’s a “good numbers, bad team” kind of player.

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At the age of 23, I say it’s far too early to be worried about that, especially with the rest of the roster still developing. Harris needs to be locked in more often on defense and he needs to improve when it comes to making the extra pass (or, you know, any sort of pass).

At the same time, between his effectiveness attacking defenders off the dribble, finishing with floaters in the lane and his penchant for making clutch shots, he’s become Orlando’s go-to player on offense. The Magic need his shot creation until the rest of the roster catches up on that end of the floor.

But by signing Harris to a four-year, $64 million extension, the Magic avoided the tricky restricted free agency situation of what happens when another team makes a max offer and the incumbent team is forced to either match or let him walk for nothing.

Letting another team scoop him up would have set the Magic back in their rebuilding-through-development plans, but keeping him ensures Orlando can continue to mold this young but talented core of Payton, Oladipo, Harris, Aaron Gordon, Nikola Vucevic and Mario Hezonja.

Some might balk at the contract the Magic gave Harris, but that deal will last through the first half of his prime and it won’t look nearly as bad in a few years when the NBA’s salary cap leaps by about $40 million. Based on his youth, upside and work ethic, Tobias Harris was a risk worth taking.

Grade: B+

Next: Sign-And-Trading O'Quinn