Last night Tobias Harris hit a game winning jump shot for the Clippers to defeat the Hornets. This morning, Tobias Harris is no longer a Clipper as he was traded to the Sixers. Tobias has been a good player in the league and is still younger than most people realize since he’s been in the league a bit and the Clippers got quite the haul. The full trade as reported by Woj, is the Clippers sending Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Mike Scott to the Sixers for Wilson Chandler, Landry Shamet, Mike Muscala, Philly’s protected 2020 first round pick, Miami’s unprotected 2021 first round pick, and the Piston’s 2021 and 2023 second round picks. Worth noting is that the protected first is lottery protected for the first three years and if it does not convey, will turn into a 2023 and 2024 second round pick.
That’s a lot to digest. In short, the Clippers got a shitload for a player on an expiring contract who is going to sign to a not so cheap free agent contract this summer. Oh, and it’s February. The Sixers gave up a great deal for a player who is guaranteed to play for them for four months at most. For the Clippers, the move tells me you weren’t going to bring back Tobias Harris because you are going for a bigger fish in free agency like Leonard or Durant. In all likelihood, the Sixers are not going to be a lottery team in the foreseeable future, so to get two first rounders is an amazing deal for the Clippers. The team has looked solid this year but they aren’t living in the pipe dream of winning a title like they have in the past, making this an even better move for them.
The Sixers front office have said that they are budgeting to keep Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler this season, keeping their newly formed big four together. First off, that’s a bold statement to say that already when you haven’t seen them play together. Second, what else can the Sixers say? Obviously they aren’t going to come out and say that they gave up all they did in the present and future for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris with the intention to let them walk at the end of the season. I think the Sixers made this trade because they are not fully confident in resigning Jimmy Butler this summer but do feel confident they can resign Tobias Harris; all while they improve their team for this season to make a title run.
One thing is for sure, the Sixers helped their win now state and the Clippers have showed they are willing to play the long game and are building a system that can last.
