Former Piston Tobias Harris now in spotlight

With the injury to the 76ers’ Joel Embiid, former Detroit Pistons player Tobias Harris steps to the forefront.

Tobias Harris is no longer with the Detroit Pistons because then-coach/general manager Stan Van Gundy swung for the fences, to get the  club out of the doldrums, and trade for Blake Griffin. All it got the franchise was being swept in the first round of the playoffs (after Van Gundy was fired) and a long rebuilding project, still in its embryonic stages.

Harris continued to be a very productive player after leaving Detroit in January, 2018. With the Clippers and now the Philadelphia 76ers, the 6-foot-9 forward has had years where his making the All-Star Game have been brought up.

He has also done well financially. Until the Sixers traded for James Harden, Harris was the highest paid player on the team, making $34.5 million this season, more than center Joel Embiid, a finalist for league MVP.

But with the surprising news that Embiid is out indefinitely with an orbital fracture and a mild concussion, Harris is going to be looked to even more as the 76ers take on the No. 1 seeded Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Harris played well in the first-round win over the Toronto Raptors, earning coach Doc Rivers praise:

Harris, never known for his defense, really has upped his game on that end of the floor. He also can still shoot like he did in Detroit. Even though, at times, he is the fourth option on offense, Harris is averaging 17.8 points a game.

Harris will face off a lot with another former Pistons, Markieff Morris, who plays power forward for the Heat.

The 76ers were underdogs to the Heat even with Embiid. To have any kind of  chance (and we are talking teeny, tiny), Tobias Harris is going to have to show all the promise he displayed in Detroit, and more.