Throughout the offseason, the 76ers have been a hotbed of trading rumors, focusing on point guard Ben Simmons and his future on the team. But a report late Sunday put another 76ers star in the spotlight, suggesting that Tobias Harris may be one of their main dominoes during the offseason.

These are the words of Mitch Lawrence of SiriusXM (formerly the New York Daily News), who shared these words on the following Sunday afternoon:

A source familiar with the situation told the Voice of Philadelphia that the report was inaccurate and hinted that the intelligence may date back to last season. According to sources, Harris’ name was mentioned at the time as part of a larger deal with the Houston Rockets, and a brief discussion was held during the 76ers’ attempt to trade James Harden. But Harden’s deal was never reached, and many iterations like this were never particularly close.

This seems to make this a very open and closed case, although this is an opportunity for us to discuss the issues raised by many fans throughout the offseason-does it make sense to act if the 76ers want to buy Harris before Simmons?

The 29-year-old forward performed well under the leadership of Doc Rivers last season and walked out the door strongly, providing a reasonable reason for the All-Star appearance. On many nights, Harris brought the Philadelphia team home, and as Joel Embiid slowed down in the fourth quarter, he took control of the offense. He worked harder defensively more often, and in the regular season he showed improvement as a playmaker, averaging a career high in assists per game and an assist-to-turnover ratio of more than 2 to 1.

As the season progressed, Harris’ fast-paced decision-making gradually faded. He saved one of the worst performances of the season because of their dramatic loss in Game 7 and missed multiple shots and layups, eventually winning 8/24 performance. He tends to shift to the low and mid-range areas and pass open three-pointers instead of mid-range shots, which is harmful to the 76ers, and they desperately need him to provide three-pointers to make this combination of players work.

Even some of Harris’ biggest defenders may admit that there is a problem with his contract. There are three years left in the contract, which exceeds 35 million dollars per season and eventually exceeds 39 million dollars in the 2023-24 season. From the point of view of team building, Harris’ limits on both ends of the offense and defense will be more acceptable (to be frank, he has different main guards around him), but Harris will make more money next season. To give a few examples, celebrities like Kyrie Irving, Bradley Beal, and Anthony Davis. Big money will bring a lot of pressure, and Harris and such players are not on the court.

This is the problem of constructing a Harris deal, which actually helps the 76ers in the short and long term. In the past few years, the idea of ??any player having a “non-tradable” contract has been dispelled many times, so of course you can find a suitor for Harris, who is at least an efficient player and excellent. Locker room staff. But this price point means that you are likely to trade him for an equally problematic contract, or a group of role players that you hope can fill the void around Embiid and Simmons.

In the latter case, it feels less helpful than you think. For all the shortcomings of Harris, he has shown the ability to pretend to be a scorer for a long period of time in a season, but he will also give way and is willing to reduce contact in order to allow Embiid to continue cooking. If you trade him for multiple role players, you short a No. 2/pseudo No. 1 option at a critical moment, and many of the close games that the 76ers withdrew last season may turn into losses, unless Simmons is finally fourth. The quarter figured it out.

There is no panacea for replacing him with another big name with a big contract. For example, Kemba Walker looked ill in Boston last year and was transferred to the Thunder earlier this summer. Will you move him for him?This is another potential defensive target in the rotation. He has fewer size/changeability and health issues despite his trade Do Ended a year early. Sacramento’s Buddy Hield may be a starting point, but it is closer to a combination of multi-role players-Hield is best used as an off-ball weapon, not someone you need to create and score at critical moments.

It makes sense on paper to trade Harris for CJ McCollum (at least at the end of the Philadelphia team), but Neil Orsh is known for protecting Lehigh products and may not trade McCollum at all, let alone more. Expensive price deals with a comparable person.In addition, the 76ers very much hope other The Portland guards can play, so they are motivated to sit down and hope things will break out.

(If the Pacers’ frontcourt is not so overloaded, you might see a world where the Harris-Brogdon swap will help both teams. But if Brogdon is outgoing this offseason, then Indiana The team is more likely to look for this guard to replace him rather than an outright four.)

We haven’t seen what the Simmons trade actually looks like in this market full of weird rumors, but it’s safe to say that young, better-decorated players have more value in the market than Harris. The reason why he became that person has been discussed all summer. If you trade a more valuable/popular player, you are likely to get a more valuable player in return. Since Harris’ game is more plug-and-play on the offensive end, he can easily integrate into the 76ers’ future iterations, even if the price point is exaggerated.

In this offseason, there is almost nothing to rule out Philadelphia.But the Harris-centered trade proposal has limitations. If Philadelphia Do Finally decided to go that way.

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