So far, Tobias Harris has sort of been the odd man out in the James Harden era. He’s been struggling to find his role with three scorers above him in the pecking order. Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Harden all have the green light ahead of him, and time with the ball in his hands is as low as it’s been in awhile. He had a tough first few games of the new squad as a result. Things seem to be turning a corner now though, and the last five have been quite a bit better as Harris seems to be acclimating to his new role.
The First Five Games
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In his first five games with Harden, Harris was often relegated to standing around, and taking a few shots here or there, often not in rhythm. He seemed hesitant when catching the ball, unsure if he should shoot, or slow it down take make his own shot like he had been earlier in the season. He was still doing his dribble size-ups and post-ups with the occasional shot, but he was not playing well. Harris was shooting a dismal 39% from the floor and 30% from three and scoring just 12.6 points per game. He looked lost out there, and as should have been expected, his assists were also way down without the part-time initiator duties he had pre-Harden. The Harden-Harris combo in particular had problems, and as one of the core duos that was troubling. Recently though, Harris seems to be settling in much better.
The Last Five Games
The past few games, Harris has looked much improved. Overall, in the James Harden era, he’s shooting many more threes, taking 4.6 a game with Harden as opposed to 3.4 without him. That’s similar to the number he was hitting when he first joined the Sixers, and the attempts should keep increasing as Harris keeps getting settled in. He’s said himself that the catch-and-shoot has to be a bigger part of his game now, and the difference in the last few games is the confidence to let it fly. He’s shooting 52% from three in the last five games, compared to the aforementioned 30% in the first five on the same attempts. A larger portion of his shots are three-pointers, which seems right with his new role. That can also be seen in the percentage of his makes that are assisted, which is at 63.4% in March, by far the highest this season and pretty much the highest it’s been since he became a regular starter. That’s the result of playing with an ace playmaker like Harden, and the result of Harris reducing the isolation ball.
Essentially, Harris needs to get back to taking quicker decisions. This was a large point of emphasis by Doc for Harris last year, but without Ben Simmons to handle the point, Harris had to do it more often and with it, more long possessions and slow decisions. Now that Harden has arrived, he can get back to what made him good the previous season. Hanging out at the perimeter, catching the ball and either taking the shot, or one pump-fake and go. He’s not dribbling the air out of the ball anymore, and it’s helped him immensely. That’s changed from the beginning of the season, and while hints of it definitely remained in those first five games, they are getting less and less frequent as the team gels.
Harris’ New Role
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In these past five games, with Harris looking as comfortable as he has in a while, he’s averaging about 15.8 points per game on great efficiency. That’s fantastic for a fourth option, and if he can keep that up, this Sixers team is looking dangerous. What’s good about Harris is that if he is feeling it, like he did against the Orlando Magic, he can drop 20+ if he needs to. He even hit arguably the most clutch shot of the night, a go-ahead three-pointer with 30 seconds left. That shouldn’t happen too often with Embiid, Maxey and Harden, but Embiid can suffer from inconsistency within games, Harden will have his brick nights and Maxey can go missing and be passive, like against the Brooklyn Nets. When that does happen, Harris can be that fourth insurance policy, and when those guys are playing well, he can spot up or drive on an out-of-position defense thanks to the Sixers’ Big Three. The 3PA needs to keep increasing, and Harris would also help the team immensely by becoming better on the boards, as that can be an area they struggle in outside of Embiid. It’s a reduced role sure, but Harris is a team player and seems willing to do what needs to be done. That’s been manifesting over the past five games, and the instant decisions, whether it’s shooting right away or driving right away, needs to continue.
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