You might remember Tobias Harris from one of his multiple thrashings of the Celtics this past season. The worst was his 21 point, 4 rebound, 2 steal performance in huge second half comeback in March.
Well, the Celtics may be taking a page from the Patriots in pursuing players that have burned them in the past as they reportedly pursue Harris in (restricted) free agency
As Orlando restricted free agent Tobias Harris will pursue a maximum-level offer sheet on July 1 that the Magic possibly won’t match, the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics have emerged as leading candidates for the talented forward, league sources told RealGM.
Harris, 22, is among the top young players on the available market, and could be the most vulnerable restricted free agent to leave his team. Around the NBA, several teams are believed to be open to preparing a near-max contract for Harris — which could approach $15 million-plus per season, an area the Magic likely elect not to match given the course of extension talks last October and their current team salary structure.
Here’s the thing you have to keep in mind when pursuing restricted free agents… throw their actual value out the window. Teams will match actual value. They won’t match over-paying for him. Harris is young and improving. He can play more than one position, which is increasingly important nowadays. His 3-point shooting improved from 25.4% to 36.4% last year, even as he took twice as many threes, which is very encouraging.
Orlando, of course, could decide that he’s already too good to pass up. Both teams have enough money to offer and match. If the Celtics want him badly enough, they’ll have to pony up enough dough to make Orlando blink. And when you consider (a) the amount of offers coming in and (b) the fact that making a restricted free agent an offer ties up that cap space for the three days the other team has to decide whether to match, the Celtics had better really want him. They can’t risk missing on the rapid-fire commitments made in the first week of free agency because they suddenly don’t have cap space for 3 days.
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