Harris trade alters balance of power
Deal gives Philadelphia best starting five in East and good shot at the title
PHILADELPHIA— Tobias Harris drove the lane, tossed up a runner and buried the winner with what turned out to be his final shot for the Los Angeles Clippers.
His packed bags needed a new destination. Next stop, Philadelphia.
The 26-year-old Harris is headed to the 76ers in a deal that suddenly gives the team the best starting five in the Eastern Conference and stamped them as legitimate title contenders.
Harris is ready for the move — he tweeted a GIF from the opening credits of the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air showing Will Smith’s character playing basketball.
The Sixers can only hope this trade turns into a story all about how the East got flipped-turned upside down.
They paid a steep price for the pending free agent: Sensational rookie guard Landry Shamet and four draft picks are headed to the Clippers. Philadelphia traded forwards Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala to Los Angeles, too. The Sixers also acquired centre Boban Marjanovic and forward Mike Scott.
In other notable moves on the even of Thursday’s NBA trade deadline:
The Milwaukee Bucks traded centre Thon Maker to the Detroit Pistons for forward Stanley Johnson, a swap of recent lottery picks who have struggled to make a consistent impact.
The seven-foot-one Maker, an Orangeville Prep product, was the 10th pick in 2016. He started 34 games as a rookie in 2016-17 but has mostly come off the bench since then.
The Miami Heat dealt guards Tyler Johnson and Wayne Ellington to the Phoenix Suns for forward Ryan Anderson. The move eases a roster logjam in Miami, and gives the Heat salary relief.
The Los Angeles Lakers added Reggie Bullock from the Detroit Pistons for rookie guard Svi Mykhailiuk. Bullock is averaging 12.1 points per game and hitting 38.8 per cent of his three-point attempts, one of the Lakers’ weaknesses at 33.4 per cent as a team.
Harris, playing for his fifth NBA team, is having a breakout season with the Clippers. He averages 20.9 points and shoots nearly 50 per cent from threepoint range and is expected to start with all-stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, along with Jimmy Butler and J.J. Redick, in the best starting lineup this side of Golden State.
“We are in the unique position to contend now and we think this trade positions us well for the post-season,” 76ers general manager Elton Brand said in a statement. “Tobias is one of the best three-point shooters in the NBA and possesses an innate ability to impact the game on both ends of the floor, while Boban and Mike provide valuable skill sets, size and depth to our team. All three players bring high character to our locker room and we are excited about their fit alongside Joel, Ben, Jimmy and our entire roster.”
The Sixers suffered in the early years of The Process, but are clearly in win-now mode. Harris and Butler both will be free agents this summer and could command a maximum-level contract.
The four picks sent to the Clippers are the Sixers’ lotteryprotected 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-rounder, a 2021 second-rounder and a 2023 second-rounder.
The Sixers, who were eliminated in the second round of the playoffs last season, are 3420 and sit fifth in the Eastern Conference. The Clippers are 30-25 and have shed the salary needed to make them attractive for major free agents in the summer. They held the eighth seed in the West, but the trade seems to signal that they’re looking past this season.
This could be the first of several major deals expected before the NBA trade deadline passes at 3 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. Anthony Davis wants out of New Orleans, while Memphis is shopping Mike Conley and longtime teammate Marc Gasol.
Will East contenders Boston, Milwaukee and Toronto be just as aggressive at the deadline as the Sixers?
Don’t assume Brand is done, either. Butler might be in the mix with the right offer and the Sixers are certainly listening to offers for any trade that involves 2017 No.1draft pick Markelle Fultz, who has been rehabbing a bad shoulder and missed most of the season. Coach Brett Brown refused to commit, before Tuesday’s loss to Toronto, that Fultz would be part of the playoff rotation.
“I’m hoping to be pleasantly surprised with how he arrives back with us more than assume that he’s going to be there,” Brown said.