Where Does Tobias Harris Rank on Most Overpaid NBA Players List?

Is Sixers forward Tobias Harris truly overpaid?

If you called Tobias Harris overpaid around a sea of Philadelphia 76ers fans, you’d have a hard time finding somebody who would disagree. The man even joked about the perception surrounding his name months back when he claimed that Sixers fans would trade him for a Crumbl Cookie.

The unfortunate reality for Harris is that his contract created a scenario that makes it difficult for spectators to feel satisfied with the amount of cap space he takes up compared to his on-court production from the beginning. 

Now entering the final year of the contract he signed with the Sixers back in 2019, the view of Harris remains the same. Yeah, he’s good — but is he good enough to earn nearly $40 million in 2023-2024? 

According to a list of the NBA’s most overpaid players in history, curated by HoopsHype, Harris is present. Ranking 12th on the list, Frank Urbina and Raul Barrigon explain their decision to consider Harris one of the most overpaid players to take the court.

“Tobias Harris is similar to Wiggins in that he’s a better player than the advanced metrics give him credit for, as his off-the-dribble and face-up scoring, and his versatile defense, are all rare attributes for a power forward. Even so, Real Value believes Harris was overpaid in 2022-23 once again, with the metric valuing him at $16.9 million while the forward was actually paid $37.6 million by Philadelphia, an overpay of $20.7 million. Harris is under contract for one more season with the Sixers, who will pay the veteran $39.3 million in 2023-24. Bold prediction here: Real Value will say Harris is greatly overpaid when we run this exercise back in one year, too.”

Is Harris Truly Overpaid?

Probably. Does it really even matter at this point? Not really. It’s been a long four years since Harris inked his max contract with the 76ers, and he’s finally approaching the final season before he becomes an unrestricted prospect for the first time since 2019.

Throughout Harris’s run with the Sixers, the veteran forward has been tossed in trade rumors a handful of times. I’d be more surprised if that’s not the case once again this season, since he’s headed into his final contract year, and rumors flew about his desire to be moved earlier in the summer already.

Sixers fans, and NBA fans in general, surely never forget that Harris gets paid All-Star money without an All-Star nod on his resume, but the veteran forward shouldn’t lose much sleep over it. Harris might be overpaid — but he’s not overrated.

At this point, Harris has been criticized so often that people have convinced themselves that he’s a lousy player who won the lottery. He might not be the face of a franchise, but Harris is far from a scrub. 

In five seasons with the 76ers, Harris has started in 308 games, averaging over 34 minutes on the floor. He’s produced 18 points per game while knocking down 37 percent of his threes. 

Offensively, he’s been consistent. Defensively, he’s grown better each season. Mix that in with the fact that Harris has been a respected vocal presence in the locker room and has been willing to tweak his role numerous times to cater to his teammates, and you’ve got a valuable veteran, who supports the ultimate goal of the squad.

At the end of the day, NBA players make a lot of money, and they get paid based on their market value at the time of the signing. 

When Harris joined the 76ers at the 2019 trade deadline, he was averaging 21 points while knocking down 43 percent of his threes at 26 years old. The Sixers assumed they weren’t landing names like Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and Kevin Durant, so they went for the next-best scorer on the market, which happened to be Harris.

The assumption at the time was that Harris would get paid the big bucks. The pre-Daryl Morey front office forked over the now-infamous offer, which led to Harris making the no-brainer decision to sign. With that, the Sixers are now viewed as a team that’s employed several over the league’s most overpaid.

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What Do You Think?

Is Tobias Harris truly overpaid?