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A few weeks into the 2022-23 NBA season, Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris finds himself in familiar territory — in trade rumors. As the Sixers have begun to check in with teams around the league, Harris’ name has popped up in conversations, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. After the current campaign, Harris will have just one year and $39 million remaining on his contract.
From The Athletic:
76ers officials have begun their usual check-ins with teams across the league ahead of the Dec. 15 date for players who signed contracts in the offseason to be traded, when trade talks begin to intensify. Philadelphia’s Tobias Harris has come up in the 76ers’ conversations with clubs so far, league sources said.
In his 12th NBA season, Harris has adapted to a new role and has been regarded as a model teammate and leader for the 76ers. He’s averaged 14.7 points and 6.2 rebounds while attempting 12.1 field goals per game — the lowest since his 2015-16 season in Orlando.
This, of course, isn’t the first time that Harris has heard his name in the rumor mill. In fact, it seems like he’s been consistently mentioned as a potential trade piece since he signed with Philadelphia long-term in 2019. Plus, he’s been traded four times previously over the course of his career. First, he was moved from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Orlando Magic in 2013. Then in 2016, he was traded from the Magic to the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons shipped him to the Los Angeles Clippers in 2018, and then he was traded to Philadelphia in 2019.
Just last season, Harris was pointed to as a player the Sixers could potentially move at the trade deadline, either by himself or in a larger move that also included Ben Simmons. Obviously, no such deal came to fruition, but such speculation still impacts the player. Here’s Harris’ response when I asked him if it bothered him to be mentioned in trade talks:
“That’s something I’d rather not talk about. That already took too much energy out of me yesterday and today, and I want to move on from it,” Harris said. “But, this is my 11th year in the NBA. It’s not my first rodeo. It’s not the first time I’ve been in trade rumors and it probably won’t be the last. So that’s that”
While you can’t blame Harris for being less than enthralled with the idea of being traded (again), you also can’t blame the Sixers for exploring the possibility. Improvement is the name of the game, after all. This season, though, Harris has done an excellent job of embracing his role as a catch-and-shoot player. That doesn’t mean the Sixers shouldn’t look to trade him if the right deal presents itself, but he’s certainly done everything asked of him.
The deadline is still a few months away, so no deal is likely imminent, but you can certainly expect the rumor mill to heat up in the coming weeks and months, and Harris’ name will assuredly pop up again — but that’s nothing new for the veteran forward.
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