Philadelphia 76ers: 3 things to watch on opening night

3. Tobias Harris returns in a new role

After bringing in Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler last season, the Sixers found themselves in an interesting situation during the offseason. Both stars’ contracts were expiring, and both were expecting big paydays. There may have been thoughts of keeping them both together, but the Sixers showed their cards when they traded away Jimmy Butler in a sign-and-trade deal (which brought Josh Richardson to the team). Shortly after, the Sixers inked a deal with Harris that gives the team his rights for five-years in exchange for a cool $180 million bank account bump.

Of course, with a player of Butler’s status leaving town, some fans aren’t entirely sold on moving Harris to a bigger role, preferring Butler’s hard-nosed style of play last year over Harris’ more routine style of play. Still, Harris’ numbers shouldn’t be disregarded. In 27 starts with the Sixers, the forward averaged 18.2 points a game on 14.8 field goal attempts with a .326 three-point percentage and .469 percentage from the field overall. Harris also had 7.9 total rebounds, with 2.9 assists, and 0.4 steals. While his 3 point percentage could use some improvement, that’s all-and-all not too shabby for a player forced to learn a new system with new teammates mid-season.

Now that he’s had a full summer with the Sixers – and Simmons and Embiid – under his belt, fans should expect the chemistry to be even better and a leaner, meaner Harris to take the court in Butler’s place at small forward – much to the chagrin of his fans and teammates alike.