Tobias Harris has been at the middle of NBA trade rumors this offseason and he appears to have had enough of all of the noise — especially from one a part of the 76ers’ fan base.
Speaking at a basketball camp and merchandise event on the Wells Fargo Center, Harris addressed the trade rumors head-on, and with a little bit of humor.
“Casual Sixers fans, they’ll trade me for a Crumbl cookie,” Harris said in an interview with NBC Sports Philadelphia on Tuesday.
“But at the top of the day, they’ve to comprehend you’re not getting a 6-foot-9 forward back who can rattling near shoot 40 percent from 3, guard other teams’ best player, shoot, post-up, drive, play 70-plus games a 12 months.”
Though Harris, 30, had a tremendous 2022-23 campaign on paper, averaging 14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and a pair of.5 assists per game, he was often neglected because the 76ers turned to James Harden and Joel Embiid in the facility forward position.
The sharpshooter also went 50.1 percent from the sphere and 38.9 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
And given all that, Harris’ dad — and manager — Torrel Harris said the 76ers aren’t utilizing his son’s skills enough.
“The rationale I say that, well Tobias is an assassin scorer. I mean they’ll’t stop him,” Torrell said on the “Business of Sports” podcast.
“No one within the league can stop him. So he’s proven that over his profession even when he was with the Clippers he was an assassin scorer.”
But Harris said he didn’t agree along with his dad’s view on the matter.
“I’ve also told him that as a dad and agent, not to talk for me in relation to the media because obviously, he has his viewpoint on that, but that’s not the best way I feel,” Harris said on Tuesday in response to Dave Uram of KYW News Radio.
Entering the ultimate 12 months of a five-year deal, Harris has been the topic of trade rumors, including with the Cavs before the NBA Draft, though Philadelphia likely will hang onto him heading into the 2023-24 season, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The 76ers are coming off a 3rd consecutive season of getting bounced within the second round of the NBA playoffs after losing to the Celtics this 12 months.