Tobias Harris scored 34 points last night on 13-21 shooting.

That’s pretty damn good.

Sure, it’s an outlier, and he’s not dropping those numbers every night, but the flashes of offensive brilliance from the Sixers’ newest power forward show All-Star potential on nights when he’s dialed in.

Harris is averaging 21 points this season on a 49.6 field goal percentage while hitting at 43.4% from three. Each of those numbers is a career high.

He shoots 4.7 three-pointers per game and 15.5 total field goals, so I’m interested in how the distribution works out moving forward. For context, Wilson Chandler and Mike Muscala were only taking 5.8 and 5.9 shots per game. Joel Embiid averages 18.7, Jimmy Butler 14, JJ Redick 13.8, and Ben Simmons 12 per game. I think Ben’s field goal attempts come down a bit initially as he feels his way through a new look with a new power forward, but the Sixers’ starting lineup now features five guys who justifiably should be seeing a lot of the ball.

I’d honestly say that Harris is a bit underrated. When you compare his numbers to what other guys in the league are doing, it’s pretty impressive.

For instance:

  • 20.9 points per game = 24th in the league, just behind Jrue Holiday and C.J. McCollum but ahead of Luka Doncic and Buddy Hield
  • 43.4% from three = 8th in the NBA, just behind Danilo Gallinari and Steph Curry, but ahead of Bojan Bogdanovic and Kyle Korver (and Redick)
  • 87.7% from the foul line = 11th in the NBA
  • 60.5 true shooting percentage = now the best number on the Sixers’ roster

When you look at how he distributes those 15.5 field goals per game, and match it against league averages, Harris outperforms his peers in 9 of the 14 zones logged by the NBA:

That’s elite stuff. You see he’s excellent from three at pretty much any spot on the court, and while his short mid-range and baseline game lags behind, he’s an above-average finisher at the rim.

That brings me to the video portion of the article, and there’s a lot to like.

One of the things that makes him really effective is his ability to get off shots in a variety of ways.

Whereas a guy like Redick is deadly in the DHO game with Embiid, he’s always going to be reliant on his movement and/or screens to get open looks.

Harris has a pull-up game that he can use off the pick and roll or in semi-isolation situations:

Nothing fancy there, just a 6’9″ power forward as the ball handler in a pick and roll stepping into an elbow jumper.

The NBA tracking data says he’s hitting at the following percentages:

  • 40.8 on 3.4 catch and shoot three pointers per game
  • 48.6 on 1.3 pull-up three pointers per game
  • 44.9 on 4.0 pull-up two pointers per game
  • 56.6 on 6.6 attempts within 10 feet per game

Those are really balanced numbers there. Like most good snipers, the majority of his looks are going to be catch and shoot attempts, but he shoots well off the dribble from mid-range and behind the arc.

He’s also a very good trailing shooter, and when you have situations like this one, just a simple drive and kick out, his release is lightning quick:

I pulled that play specifically because Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is cut off at the top of the foul line, which is the same exact area where Boston and Toronto typically meet Ben Simmons. Kicking to Embiid for a three-pointer there is doable, but not ideal, and if Harris is the trailing “big” in that position moving forward, it makes teams think twice about trapping Simmons.

Freeze frame:

Look familiar?

There’s always going to be room for a trailing big to step into a three-pointer if Simmons is met in areas like this one:

I also think Harris has a pretty good handle, a somewhat underrated ability to create off the dribble.

Example:

Pick and roll, he gets the switch with Omari Spellman, and the three-pointer isn’t there, but he’s quick enough to put the ball on the floor against a center and get to the rim for the bucket and foul.

Harris does a lot of things well. He’s a dynamic stretch four who can create his own shot and shoot the three at a high-level, but it’s gonna take some work for Brett Brown to incorporate him into a free-flowing system that already features four other starters who are taking 10+ field goal attempts per game. Add to the fact that you’re still trying to incorporate Butler, and the task is even taller, but it’s a great problem to have.