Doc Rivers Aiming to Unlock Tobias Harris Again

When the Sixers agreed to hire Doc Rivers to become their head coach, one player who instantly stood out to benefit from the move was Tobias Harris. During their time with the Los Angeles Clippers, Rivers had Harris playing at an All-Star caliber level. Now that they are reunited, it is time to see if Rivers can resurrect the Tobias Harris from his Clippers days.

Harris played a total of 87 games with the Clippers throughout two seasons. In that time he averaged 20.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and shot a stellar 42.6% from beyond the arc.
Rivers was one of the first members of the team to speak on Tuesday to kick off media week and the start of training camp. When Harris was brought up, Rivers seemed intent on getting him back to playing how he did in LA.

When Rivers was asked if he felt that he can use Harris in a similar way he did in LA with the Sixers' current roster, he responded by saying yes and that it "might be easier in some stretches." One area of Harris' game that he wants to improve is getting Harris back to making quick decisions on the floor.

Tobias is so darned skilled going downhill, left and right, and we need to get back to taking advantage of that.

Since the Sixers have restructured their roster, most of the talk has been about what the added spacing will do for Embiid and Simmons. But Harris is another player who is going to benefit from the team's new supporting cast.

With the moves the Sixers made this offseason, it looks like Harris could slide back to the power forward position. Moving back to his natural position should allow him to attack more mismatches on offense and create more scoring opportunities for himself.

Another thing that Rivers brought up is increasing the pick-and-roll play this season. An increase in pick-and-roll play and a plethora of shooting on the floor should allow Harris to attack bigger frontcourt players and get downhill more.

Getting Tobias Harris back to his former self should be a priority for Rivers and the Sixers' coaching staff. If he can get back to being a 20+ PPG player while shooting lights out from deep, the Sixers' offense will become even more dangerous.

Kevin McCormick is the 76ers insider for 97.3 ESPN and 76ers editor for Sportstalkphilly.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevinMcC973.