Report: Tobias Harris headed to Detroit in free agency originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
After more than five years as a Sixer, Tobias Harris returns to Detroit.
Harris has agreed to join the Pistons on a two-year contract worth $52 million, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported.
Harris has played 157 of his 897 career games with the Pistons. His longest NBA stint to date is with the Sixers, who acquired him from the Clippers in February 2019. After the team’s heartbreaking Game 7 loss to the Raptors in that year’s Eastern Conference semifinals, Harris subsequently signed a five-year, $180 million deal to stay in Philadelphia.
Despite having several solid seasons and strong first-round playoff runs, Harris failed to help the Sixers advance beyond Round 2, going scoreless after going 0-for-2 in the Sixers’ season-ending loss to the Knicks this year.
“It’s been a tough year, just with the injuries that we’ve had as a group,” Harris said. “I think we’ve definitely shown that we have talent in this locker room and on this team. I wish we had more time to melt down, and to keep it going and have everyone healthy.
“But it was a year of ups and downs for us as a group. We were composed in this series. We definitely came out game after game and gave everything in this series. Just an unfortunate result.”
During his time as a Sixer, Harris averaged 17.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists during the regular season. Currently, his 575 made three-pointers rank fourth in Sixers history.
Detroit is in a decidedly different situation than the Sixers, who picked up Paul George and plan to compete for a championship. Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson are among the youthful core pieces of a Pistons team that went an NBA-worst 14-68 last season.
Harris mentored youngsters like Tyrese Maxey and Ricky Council IV with the Sixers.
“I can’t even put it all into words,” Council said during his exit interview, “but he helped me a lot. He gets a lot of hate and I don’t know where that comes from. He’s a really good person. … Tobias’ professionalism is unreal. And that’s why I was happy to have him by my side this whole year. I appreciate him for that, wherever he is next year.”
