Tobias Harris replacement the Pistons can have for free

Tobias Harris is on an expiring contract, so the Detroit Pistons will either have to bring him back, find his replacement this summer or perhaps both, which might be the ideal solution.

The Pistons can’t afford to pay Harris $25 million a year, but there may be mutual interest in him returning on a short-term deal with a much-lower annual salary. Harris has been a great teammate and veteran for this team and could help to mentor whoever replaces him. 

Bleacher Report had an interesting idea of who that should be, suggesting that the Pacers could flip power forward Obi Toppin to the Pistons for a second-round pick. 

For Indiana, this trade would be a simple salary dump to get out of the luxury tax, and for the Pistons, it would be a way to get a solid player for practically nothing. 

Obi Toppin is worth a second-round pick 

The Pistons have a ton of extra second-round picks and given that part of the draft has gotten much worse in recent years because of NIL money keeping some of the better prospects in college, the Pistons can unload second-round picks without much worry. 

Toppin would be a downgrade from Harris as a scorer, as he doesn’t have the post-game that Unc does, but Toppin would be an upgrade in other areas, particularly athleticism, defense and shooting efficiency. 

In his last two full seasons, Toppin put up an effective field goal percentage of 62.1 and 66.1, which is far higher than the 52.1 and 53.4 percent that Harris has posted in his last two full seasons. 

Toppin is on a reasonable salary of $15 million for the next two seasons after this one, so the Pistons could potentially nab him, keep Tobias Harris for two more years and have their power forward platoon while spending less money than they might on one expensive upgrade. For example, you could potentially have both Toppin and Harris for $15-20 million less than Lauri Markkanen. 

This would allow the Pistons to use their trade resources elsewhere, specifically at the two guard, where they need to find Cade Cunningham a suitable partner for the first time in his career. 

Power forward is a lesser need the Pistons could fill by committee with two players with varying skillsets that complement each other well. Toppin provides more of a 3-and-D rim runner, while Harris is still a guy the Pistons can go to for a bucket in the post. 

It’s not the upgrade some fans want, but it would be an efficient use of cap space that wouldn’t cost the Pistons much. 

It will be interesting to see how the Pistons approach the summer with two glaring needs at power forward and guard and which one they choose to prioritize.