Tobias Harris is one of the few notable additions the Detroit Pistons have made to the roster this summer, and it seems the team’s new regime has a very surprising role in mind for the 13-year NBA veteran.
There was a lot of hope surrounding the Pistons heading into the offseason. They are a storied franchise and had the most available salary cap space in the entire league. However, free agency opened at the start of the month and the biggest names on the market had no interest in bringing their talents to a team that won just 14 games in 2023-24.
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Yet, the poor state of the franchise did not scare off former Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris. The 32-year-old inked a two-year, $52 million contract with Detroit this month, and the reunion with the player that previously played two and a half seasons with the franchise sadly was the biggest move they made this offseason.
The decision to sign Harris is all the more disheartening since the Sixers veteran is one of the most disappointing free-agent signings by any team over the last decade. The former first-round pick signed a massive, five-year, $180 million contract with Philly in the summer of 2019 and never sniffed an All-Star appearance during his six-year stint with the team.
Despite holding the designation of being the highest-paid player in NBA history to never go to an All-Star game, it seems the Pistons’ new team president Trajan Langdon, and new head coach JB Bickerstaff have a major role in mind for Harris in 2024-25.
On Monday, Yahoo Sports NBA insider Jake Fisher reported that the team’s brain trust believes Tobias Harris can “serve as a foundational leader” for the team’s rebuild from the bottom of the NBA standings.
Harris has been on some good teams during his career in the league. However, there isn’t much evidence that he played a key role as a prominent leader in those locker rooms.
