Tobias Harris arrives in San Antonio with a chance to fill a very familiar kind of role for the Spurs - the kind Rudy Gay once handled so well.
Gay spent four seasons with San Antonio late in his career and gave the team a dependable scoring option. He was usually the Spurs’ third-leading scorer, and he did it by being hard to pin down.
If defenders gave him space, he could hit the three. If they rushed him, he could attack the closeout.
If the possession called for it, he could work in the mid-range or punish a mismatch on the block.
That blend is what makes Harris such an interesting fit. His game carries a lot of the same traits, and that could make him another smart offseason addition for San Antonio.
Harris is expected to slide into the rotation spot Harrison Barnes had, and the Spurs are looking for him to bring steady offense more than anything else. He may not be a third option, but a reliable 10- to 12-point scorer feels well within reach. His shooting from deep is especially valuable for a team that has had stretches where the floor got tight.
Over the last two seasons, Harris has been San Antonio’s most accurate 3-point shooter. That alone should help the Spurs maintain spacing, and it gives them a more complete offensive piece than Barnes provided at this stage.
But the appeal goes beyond the arc. Harris can score from the mid-range, and he can operate in the post too, which is another reason the Gay comparison fits. He brings multiple ways to punish a defense, not just one.
San Antonio’s offense was mostly strong last season, but there were two stretches that stood out for the wrong reasons. In January, the Spurs went cold from three, with Devin Vassell out, De’Aaron Fox’s hot shooting cooling off, and Barnes struggling from outside all playing a part.
They eventually got things back on track, but the offense hit another wall in the NBA Finals. Outside of the first half of Game 4, it never really looked like the unit that powered the regular season or the first three rounds of the playoffs.
That’s where Harris could matter most. He’s been a productive scorer everywhere he’s gone, and over 15 seasons with seven teams, he’s shown he can score in a variety of ways. He’s not a perfect player, but he has consistently proven he can make threes, hit mid-range shots, and score in the post.
If that version of Harris shows up in San Antonio, the Spurs may have found their next Rudy Gay - and maybe another valuable offensive boost for a championship push.
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Spurs Just Got Pulled Into A Stephen Curry Debate Fans Will Feel
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The salary side of the conversation makes the speculation even more interesting, because Curry could be in a position to become a free agent next summer and is eligible for a two-year, $136.7 million extension. Nothing about the idea is concrete, of course, but it does put a familiar Spurs question back in the foreground: how aggressive should they be if a star of that caliber ever becomes remotely available? [Read more 🡒]