Philadelphia 76ers: 3 players facing the most pressure in 2019-20

3. Tobias Harris

When Butler’s brief Sixers’ stint came to an end, Tobias Harris was promoted into the vacant spot as the third man in their “Big 3” alongside Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.

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Harris is a scoring mercenary. The 6’9″ forward is on his fifth NBA team heading into his ninth season and wherever he goes he’s been able to step in and contribute instant offense.

Harris came to the Sixers in a February trade from the Clippers. In 27 regular-season games for Philly, he averaged 18.2 points on 46.9 percent field-goal shooting — even when he was widely considered the team’s fourth offensive option.

His scoring dipped to 15.5 points on 42.6 percent shooting in the playoffs, but Harris added 9.1 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.

The Sixers signed Harris to a five-year, $180.0 million contract in the offseason, putting him firmly in the “superstar” salary bracket. Now he faces the pressure that comes with that status.

For most of his career, Harris could’ve been labeled as a good-stats-bad-team type of player.

While he’d gotten buckets with the Clippers (single-game high of 39 points), Orlando Magic (34 points) and Detroit Pistons (34 points), Harris had only made one playoff appearance prior to 2019. Things could be quite different for him taking on a major role on a contending team.

With Butler gone and Simmons’ well-known scoring limitations, Harris could realistically become the Sixers’ No. 2 option. If Embiid’s familiar injury issues resurface, Harris could at times be the go-to guy for a team with very high expectations.