Breaking Down The Tobias Harris Signing
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00What do they get in Tobias Harris?
00:03Obviously, we've seen Tobias here before.
00:05He played with the Pistons from 2015 through 2018,
00:07three seasons with the Pistons.
00:10He averaged 16.6, 16.1, and 18.1 with the Pistons
00:14before he was gone.
00:18What did he do last season?
00:20That's what's relevant.
00:21He's 31 years old.
00:23Last year, he started 70 games with Philadelphia
00:26and averaged 17.2 points a game.
00:30But his three-point percentage
00:34was below his career average.
00:37He's a career 37% shooter.
00:39Last year, he shot 35%.
00:42So it's below league average.
00:44It was below his personal average,
00:49his career average, anyway.
00:51So, yeah, what you're not getting is peak Tobias Harris
00:56who was shooting 40, 41, and 43%
01:00in the last year with the Pistons,
01:01the next two years with the Clippers.
01:03What you're getting is the last three years,
01:05he shot 36.7, 38.9, and 35.3.
01:10Kang, this is not a sexy signing at all.
01:14And I guess I'll let you speak
01:18before I offer up what I'm thinking.
01:19Yeah, you know what?
01:20Everyone told us this was coming,
01:23even before the season ended, before the playoffs ended.
01:26And I was dreading it.
01:27I was hoping it wasn't gonna happen.
01:29And it happened.
01:31This is a guy that I think they had to get
01:33another veteran score on the team.
01:35To me, the best days of Tobias Harris are behind him.
01:40I feel like you're filling up, like I said,
01:41a roster spot right now with a veteran score
01:43because you need somebody there.
01:45But, I mean, the guy was a complete no-show
01:47for the Sixers in their elimination game.
01:49I think he literally scored zero points.
01:54Could he help the Pistons?
01:56Sure, because that's how talent depleted
01:58the team was last year.
02:00But it doesn't do anything for me
02:02as far as moving this team forward.
02:05He's not part of the future.
02:07I mean, I've seen this act before,
02:09and I think the act the first time
02:10was better than this act gonna be the second time.
02:12I actually forgot he went to the Clippers
02:14before he went to the Sixers for the last few years.
02:16He's not ancient or anything like that,
02:18but 31, he's not in his prime.
02:21Like I said, I think that's come and gone.
02:24I was hoping for other players,
02:26not that you were gonna get Paul George
02:27or anything like that,
02:28but I was hoping to get Hartenstein.
02:32He signed with Oklahoma City Thunder.
02:35It is what it is.
02:36I've liked everything Trajan Langdon has done so far.
02:38I'm not a big fan of this move personally,
02:41but they had to bring somebody in
02:43who has the ability to score that's a veteran in this league.
02:46Yeah, I mean, if you're gonna bring back a former Piston,
02:48I was hoping it was gonna be Contavious Caldwell-Pope,
02:51but apparently he's gonna go to Orlando.
02:54Gary Harris was a name that I wouldn't mind,
03:00and not because he's a former Spartan,
03:01but because he does what you really want,
03:05three and D kind of guy, and can score for sure.
03:09So I'm a little disappointed it wasn't him.
03:12He's also a couple years younger than Tobias,
03:15but we'll wait and see how all this works out.
03:18It's a two-year deal.
03:21So two years from now, they'll free up that money,
03:24and maybe by that point,
03:25they've got something to show as a team,
03:27and they can go and attract some kind of a free agent.
03:29But this is not a move
03:32that's going to wow Piston fans at all.
03:35No, I mean, this is part of the rebuilding,
03:37the restructuring with this new organization.
03:39They had to bring, like I said, someone in.
03:41Hopefully his three-point shooting climbs back up.
03:43It dipped.
03:45Yeah, I just looked up his last playoff game.
03:4629 minutes, 0-2 in an elimination game
03:49against the Knicks this year.
03:51When they needed him the most, he wasn't there.
03:52And not that the Pistons are going to playoffs next year,
03:54but if you have high aspirations,
03:56maybe if they can double up their,
03:58more than double up their wins,
04:00but play for something meaningful
04:02at the end of the season.
04:05All this, though, the only thing that matters is,
04:07does this help Cade Cunningham?
04:08Everything that Trajan Langdon does
04:10needs to help Cade Cunningham,
04:11and he is a veteran guy
04:12who's shown the ability to score this year.
04:14Maybe he can just calm things down, solidify things.
04:17Like I said, that veteran presence,
04:19because Ron Holland, their first overall pick
04:21is 18 years old.
04:22You know, this is one of the youngest teams in the league.
04:25So they were going to go after a guy like this.
04:27Like I said before, all signs point to it.
04:30Everyone said it was gonna happen.
04:31It happened.
04:32Yes, so here it is.
04:35There wasn't much out there available,
04:37realistically, that the Pistons were gonna get.
04:39Tobias Harris is a Piston, a two-year deal, $52 million.
04:46Look, they're looking for shooters,
04:47looking for guys who can space the floor
04:49a little bit more, and like you said,
04:50to build around Cade.
04:51This is not a building block.
04:54This is...
04:55He's more like a calming, I don't know.
04:57You know, you're gonna have to...
04:58He's a veteran presence. Yeah, exactly.
04:59They can still play.
05:00He's not just sitting at the 12th bench.
05:01Yeah, I mean, he averaged 17 points a game last year,
05:03so he can do that.
05:05But this is not going to wow anybody.
05:08I wanna hear that they've, and I think they will,
05:11re-sign Simone Fontecchio.
05:15That's a guy I think is really someone
05:17who could take his game up another level
05:18because he can start and shoot over 40%
05:22for three-point land, which would be huge.
05:26We'll see what the next moves are with Trajan Langdon.
05:31The report is that they're gonna sign,
05:34that they've got the coach, J.B. Bickerstaff,
05:37former Cleveland Cavaliers coach.
05:40Three straight years in Cleveland
05:42where they won 44 games or more,
05:44so it was a three winning seasons.
05:47What's, that's impressive, but it's really impressive
05:50when you add to it that he did it
05:52with an extraordinarily young team.
05:55And that's what the Pistons are, a very young team.
05:58So you build that.
05:59So is this the right guy for the job?
06:01I think it is.
06:02I'm very encouraged by this.
06:04I like Monte Williams as a hire,
06:06but not necessarily for last year
06:09because he wasn't ready to,
06:10it looked like he didn't wanna coach.
06:13He had to be coaxed into it.
06:14He had to be talked into coaching again.
06:16He was ready to take a year off
06:18and the Pistons threw a lot of money at him.
06:20He's like, all right, I guess I'll do it.
06:22So maybe a heart nod all the way in it,
06:24but Bickerstaff is somebody who makes a lot of sense
06:28and hopefully the Pistons are now going
06:30in the right direction.
06:32They've got this extension that they've agreed to
06:35with Cade Cunningham, reportedly,
06:36that it'll become official at the end of the week,
06:40but he gets a five year extension of $226 million.
06:44That's the max and he's a hell of a player.
06:48Hopefully he can stay healthy, which is not,
06:50he hasn't shown that ability
06:51in the first three seasons of his career,
06:54but if he can, he's a very good player.
06:57I think he's all-star caliber.
07:00How good can he be?
07:01We'll see.
07:02Put more players around him,
07:03that's when you're really gonna see how good he can be
07:06when other teams aren't just having to key on him.
07:09But initially, I kinda like,
07:13I definitely like the hire of the coach.
07:16I don't mind the draft pick.
07:18It is what it is,
07:20but I don't love the Tobias Harris news.
07:24That's $52 million over the next two years.
07:2626 in two.
07:28Don't get caught up in the money too much.
07:29That's the NBA nowadays.
07:30People are just parachuting in.
07:32They're gonna see big numbers with these free agents
07:33that aren't necessarily great players
07:35because the cap is so high in this league.
07:37They have so much money.
07:38Yeah, but here's the problem I have with it
07:41is that the Pistons were sitting way atop the league
07:44in terms of cap space,
07:46and if you're gonna take on a veteran player like that,
07:50would you rather sign the free agent veteran like this
07:53or would you rather take on somebody else's player
07:57and get assets?
07:59And then they'll say, hey, I'll send you a first-round pick
08:02so you can take on this contract.
08:03Exactly what they do with Tim Hardaway Jr.
08:05Yeah, Tim Hardaway Jr.
08:06They attach a bunch of second-round picks to it, right?
08:09Hopefully move into the first round one day
08:10or something like that, just gain assets.
08:13Listen, I didn't want Tobias Harris.
08:15I'm not in love with this signing.
08:16I had higher aspirations,
08:18especially after what Trajan Lanning said that he wanted.
08:20He was not against acquiring a big contract, right?
08:22Because how else are you gonna get players to come here?
08:25So I was shooting for someone like Brandon Ingram
08:27where you probably would have to max out a much bigger deal
08:30than this Tobias Harris deal.
08:31Now, maybe the Pelicans,
08:33they're not willing to part with Ingram.
08:34They tried to work something out with him
08:36because they just made a trade themselves
08:37to try to make that roster better, to build around Zion.
08:40But that's what I was looking at.
08:43Like, hey, bring me Brandon Ingram.
08:44I'll pay the guy.
08:45I'll take on the years.
08:47But that guy, he's much younger.
08:48He's got a bigger upside.
08:50I don't think he's hit his ceiling yet.
08:52Yeah, he's got some injury concerns as well,
08:54which seems like every single person in the league nowadays.
08:57But that's what I was shooting for, you know?
09:00248-539-9797 is the telephone number.
09:03All right, it's Monday.