Tobias Harris was never going to be the splashiest free agent signing of the summer. But for a San Antonio Spurs team that just got finished losing a Finals series they probably should have won, he might be exactly what they needed.
The Spurs added the veteran forward on a deal that mostly got polite nods around the league. Good size. Can shoot. Fits the system. But look closer at what happened in those five games against the Knicks and it starts to make more sense why San Antonio went after a 34-year-old instead of chasing a younger option.
De’Aaron Fox averaged 12.8 points on 34 percent shooting in the Finals. He shot 25 percent from three. For a team that won 62 games in the regular season and ranked third in scoring, the offense went cold at the worst possible time. The Spurs blew leads in all four losses. They had possessions late where nobody seemed sure what shot they wanted. That’s where Harris comes in.
He’s not a star. He never has been. But the man has a mid-range game that works with his back to the basket or facing up. And in a tight playoff game where Wembanyama gets doubled and Castle isn’t there yet with his go-to move, having a guy who can just go get a bucket from 15 feet is a real thing.
Harris spent last season in Detroit and was quietly excellent. He averaged 18.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in the Pistons’ playoff run to the second round, which was Detroit’s first series win since 2008. For the full season he put up 13.3 points, 5.1 boards and 2.5 assists in 27.7 minutes. He started all 63 games he played. He had 10 games with 20 or more points and 24 with at least 15. Nothing flashy. Just consistent.
Where he fits in a loaded rotation
San Antonio returns eight players who averaged double figures last season. Harrison Barnes barely missed the cutoff at 9.9 per game. Scoring isn’t the issue. The question is whether Harris can give them something they didn’t have in the Finals: a reliable second option when Fox isn’t working and Wemby is getting swarmed.
The numbers say he should. In 1,033 career games across six teams, Harris has averaged 15.9 points and 6.1 rebounds while shooting 47.8 percent from the floor and 36.6 percent from three. More importantly, he’s one of six active players with 16,000 points, 6,000 rebounds and 500 blocks. That group includes LeBron, Durant, Harden, Brook Lopez and Nikola Vucevic. It’s not a coincidence.
Harris also has 81 playoff games under his belt with Philadelphia and Detroit. He’s averaged 16.5 points and 8 rebounds in those. The Spurs have young stars in Wembanyama, Castle and rookie Dylan Harper. What they lacked against the Knicks was a professional scorer who knew exactly what to do with the ball when the game slowed down. Harris has been doing that for 15 years.
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