Tobias Harris is worth Detroit's time

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Jameer Nelson Womens Jersey Tobias Harris on a rookie contract was a curiosity -- a young, positionless pile of skills. Skeptics saw a tweener jack-of-all-trades who wasn't actually good at any of them, and hogged the ball on offense. The intrigued saw a shape-shifting puzzle piece who could evolve into a perfect modern NBA forward, provided he could learn at least a few of those trades at a B-plus level.

Either way, at that price, he was worth betting on.

Tobias Harris earning $64 million over four years is a wager placed, and on Tuesday, the Magic decided they had made a bad bet in dealing Harris for two veterans who might be gone from Orlando in five months. The reeling Magic needed a change, and as I wrote in July, there had been rumblings that Harris' shot selection annoyed his teammates. Heck, Harris knows what he needs to work on. "It's always, 'Oh, why doesn't he pass more?'" he told me over the summer. "And I'm not the best defensive player. I'm not gonna tell it to you like that."

Dealing Harris clears the power forward slot for Aaron Gordon, and Ersan Ilyasova gives Orlando a more reliable version of Channing Frye. The Magic need shooting more than just about any team trying to win games, and in crunch time, when they have struggled, they can open the floor a bit by playing Ilyasova and (if necessary) sliding Gordon to the wing. Brandon Jennings has struggled from the floor since returning from an Achilles tear, and at times has crossed the line from "pass-first" to "disturbingly tentative." But he's a steady presence who might play late in games.

Karl Anthony Towns White Jersey There could be an addition-by-subtraction effect in just clarifying roles, and adding a touch more shooting.

Jennings is on an expiring contract, and Ilyasova's deal is almost totally non-guaranteed for next season; the Magic have cracked open as much as $16.8 million in extra cap space for this summer, and could enter July with about $40 million in room. They chased Paul Millsap last season and have positioned themselves to be aggressive again.

Everyone will have cap space this summer, and that's why this deal is a home run for Detroit. The Pistons have essentially made their free-agency score without getting into a free-agency period that should bring some of the nuttiest bidding wars in league history. The salary cap will make an unprecedented leap to at least $90 million in July, leaving teams with heaps of space, and not enough quality veterans on which to spend it. Harris earning $16 million per year on a deal that declines in the last two seasons is better value than, say, Ryan Anderson earning $20 million per season after a frenzied free-agency auction.

This is a version of what Denver did in extending Danilo Gallinari and Wilson Chandler before they could even enter free agency, except Harris is still just 23 freaking years old. He fits Detroit's overall timeline. He has room to grow, and Detroit got him for almost nothing of meaningful, long-term value. To nab Harris without coughing up a first-round pick is fantastic work by Stan Van Gundy, Jeff Bower and the rest of Detroit's brain trust. They had internal discussions months ago about dealing that pick for less interesting players, including Eric Gordon, and nabbed a better one on the cheap.

Rudy Gay Youth Jersey We should be wary accusing Rob Hennigan of selling low; critics panned him for allegedly failing to canvas the league two seasons ago, when he flipped Arron Afflalo for a little-known French dude named Evan Fournier, and that deal has worked out fine. Hennigan did his due diligence then, and he talked to at least a few likely suitors this time around, per league sources. A couple of teams wish the Magic had called, but it's unclear if they would have offered anything better. Harris is weirdly one of the most divisive players in the league. Remember: The Sacramento Kings were his only real suitor in free agency last summer.
That this might have been the best deal Orlando could find now doesn't necessarily make it a good one -- and highlights why the Magic may regret it. They might have been able to net better return in a sign-and-trade last summer, and had Harris progressed even a little over the rest of the season, the market for him could have blossomed in July and beyond. Orlando wants to make the playoffs now, and this deal should help achieve that isolated goal. But the focus should be on long-term goals.

For better or worse, the deal also suggests Scott Skiles, who coached both Ilyasova and Jennings in Milwaukee, has some juice in the front office.

http://www.officialnuggetsshop.com/authentic-javale-mcgee-jersey.html The Denver Nuggets executed a similar sign-and-dump in 2012 with Nene, but they gambled on a younger prospect in JaVale McGee. That blew up, but it was the right kind of thinking for a team outside the contender's circle.