Philadelphia 76ers: Adding Tobias Harris makes Philly the favorites in the East

After acquiring Tobias Harris, the Philadelphia 76ers have to be considered the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference

Make no mistake, when the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Jimmy Butler a couple months ago it was clear that the team was all-in on making a push towards the NBA Finals this season. Now, after adding Tobias Harris, it only echoes that sentiment.

Late Tuesday night, the Sixers agreed to trade Landry Shamet, Philly’s 2020 protected first-round pick and an unprotected 2021 first-round pick via Miami, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala and two second-round picks (2021 and 2023) for Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic and Mike Scott.

ESPN was first to report the blockbuster trade between the two teams.

From the Los Angeles Clippers perspective, this trade makes a ton of sense. Los Angeles, who has bright eyes on the bigger names of free agency heading into the summer, was probably not going to pay Tobias Harris the big money that he’ll likely demand on the open market.

It was smart for them to try to get something for him before the NBA Trade Deadline. And they accomplished just that, in getting an extremely valuable draft pick from the 76ers, via the Miami Heat.

For the Sixers, this is a play for possibly making the NBA Finals this year. Philadelphia now has a big four of Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris – the type of deep talent that no other team in the Eastern Conference can no longer contend with on paper.

Harris is averaging a career high 21 points and eight rebounds on 50 percent shooting from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range. He’s having the best season of his career, and he’s being added to an already really good core in Philly.

On paper, there’s no question that the Sixers have emerged as the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference. Question is, can they actually translate it to success on the hardwood. While the Sixers have performed well since the Butler trade, they are still 5th. The good news is that they are only one game back of the third seed.

Making this move will now give them the inside track into that third seed and possibly being the favorites once the playoffs start.

As the NBA Trade Deadline draws near, one thing is clear – the Philadelphia 76ers are not playing around and they’ve taken a big swing. What will be the next shoe to drop in the next couple of days?