Kudos to Jason Miller of Getty Images for the above Tobias Harris-in-a-Detroit-Pistons jersey photoshop. It looks so real. Graphic design must be Miller’s passion.
People laughed at the money it took for Detroit to get Harris. Two years and $52 million, fully guaranteed, is a lot for someone whose previous team and fanbase vacated his bandwagon seasons ago—plural.
Critics need to get over it. This isn’t a home-run signing. But Harris, in all likelihood, is better suited to a situation that doesn’t need him to be the third wheel on a title contender. And though the money isn’t ideal, it’s lightyears from back-breaking. He becomes an expiring contract after this season, and when you are as bad as the Pistons, you must overpay to get quality talent—unless, apparently, you’re re-signing Simone Fontecchio.
Anyway, the Harris signing keeps in theme with Detroit’s effort to buttress its spacing. Even more notably, it pretty much ensures the Pistons’ dual-big days are over.
You don’t sign Harris to predominantly play the 3 in the year 2024. The Paul Reed pickup doesn’t change that. The Pistons were already leaning in this direction, but the Harris arrival seals it: Isaiah Stewart is a backup 5, and Detroit should be better off for it.