With NBA free agency set to tip-off in a few weeks, the Philadelphia 76ers will have to decide if they are going to bring back pending free agents Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris, and J.J. Redick.
A couple of weeks ago, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst mentioned on his podcast “The Hoop Collective” that rival executives believe that the Sixers will offer Butler a max contract.
This latest piece of news from Windhorst coincided with what Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders reported on Tuesday.
He said that there is a sense that the Sixers will offer full max contracts to both Butler and Harris. Kyler also added that the belief is if Philadelphia were to do this, then both players would re-sign.
While the Sixers are reportedly making their intentions known that they want to keep both guys, it is not stopping other teams from putting their bids in for Harris.
According to Mike A. Scotto of The Athletic, Harris and the Brooklyn Nets have a mutual interest in each other.
Scotto adds that the soon to be 27-year-old power forward and New York native fits in with Brooklyn’s core and gives them something different offensively as a playmaking stretch four.
In addition to the Nets, the Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, and Dallas Mavericks, have all been previously linked to Harris over the last few weeks.
That being said, it does not come as a surprise to see the Nets or other teams interested in Harris.
The 26-year-old forward, who was acquired in a blockbuster deal before the NBA trade deadline from the Los Angeles Clippers, had an outstanding 2018-19 season.
This season, Harris averaged 20 points (career-high), 7.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 34.7 minutes per game. He also shot a career-high 48.7-percent from the field and 39.7-percent from three-point range.
Hypothetically speaking, if Harris were to accept the Sixers’ full max contract offer, he would receive a five-year deal worth under $190.6 million.
However, if he were to pass on the Sixers’ offer, the most another team could offer him is a max contract worth $140.6 million over four years.
It should be interesting to see how free agency ultimately plays out for the Sixers.
Many fans want the team to bring back the starting 5 from this season, especially with the how NBA landscape could be completely different next season.
Therefore, it would be in the Sixers’ best interest to keep the band together and make another run at an NBA championship.
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