Why Can't Tobias Harris Draw Any Friggin' Fouls?
He’s such a good guy, why won’t he just get to the line for us?
Mike O’Connor is the best O’Connor in basketball writing. Previously of The Athletic, you can find Mike on Twitter @MOConnor_NBA.
Free throws are one of, if not the most efficient shots in basketball. For any player in the NBA whose main calling card is scoring, it certainly would behoove them to maximize the number of trips they can take to the free throw line. For the majority of volume scorers in the league, that idea is well-embraced -- every year, players like James Harden seem to innovate new gimmicky, but effective ways to do just that.
The amount of value that can be had from making the referee blow the whistle makes it all the more perplexing when players -- especially those who should be capable of drawing fouls -- do not seem focused on doing so. And no player exemplifies this more than Tobias Harris.
Harris, who at 6-9, can handle the ball, finish at the rim, and shoot off the dribble or off the catch, gets to the free throw line at an embarrassingly low rate. This season, Harris drew only 3.2 fouls per 100 possessions, good for 272nd in the league. Some other players in his range include James Ennis III, David Nwaba, Hamidou Diallo, and Mikal Bridges. Harris is the No. 2 half court option on a winning team, and yet he finds himself drawing fouls at the same rate as low-usage, 3-and-D wings.
There is truly no excuse for this; Harris has every skill and athletic trait he needs to draw fouls at a reasonable level. Here in this piece, we’ll document exactly what Harris does wrong and where he can improve.
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I would certainly not accuse Harris of being soft. He doesn’t shy away from contact, necessarily. He just doesn’t ever initiate it or seek it out. The great foul draw-ers have a knack for feeling whenever the defensive player is initiating or is about to initiate contact, and using to to sell a call.
Take this sequence, for example. Harris is driving baseline on Mario Hezonja, and as he gets a half-step ahead of him, Hezonja starts to lean into Harris’ space to catch up and cut him off. Instead of using that to go up with a shot and get a foul call, Harris just takes the baseline angle and misses a floater.
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Compare that sequence to how Damian Lillard approaches a similar situation. As Mike Scott looks to stay in front of him, Lillard anticipates Scott’s move and uses it to draw a foul.
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None of this is rocket science -- Harris just repeatedly fails to capitalize on situations in which a defender is occupying his space and is vulnerable to committing a foul. In this situation, Wes Iwundu is hounding Harris on a pick and roll. He’s looking to catch up to Harris, and leans into his back hip. Harris could’ve anticipated this, leaned into him, and tried to draw a foul. But, again, a missed opportunity.
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Compare that clip to how Jimmy Butler handles a couple of similar situations. Instead of simply taking the contact, he initiates it, and gets rewarded.
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Harris is simply terrible at initiating contact when he has the opportunities like the ones Butler capitalized on above. In this clip, for example, Harris has half a step on Eric Paschall, and should burrow right into him and get an automatic foul call. But once again, no dice.
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These are simple situations -- foul drawing 101. It’s inexcusable that Harris doesn’t make any effort to diagnose these types of sequences and force his way to the line.
After he masters that stuff, if he wanted to level up even further, beyond the basics, he could study Harden’s habit of targeting defenders’ arms whenever they fail to show their hands and maintain verticality. Harden is an absolute master at noticing when a defender leaves an arm in a vulnerable position, and rips his arms through to initiate contact. The vast majority of scorers in the league have now figured out how to copy this stuff to some extent, but I truly don’t believe I’ve ever seen Harris do this:
This is the type of exploitative maneuvering that some feel is ruining basketball, but it’s a prisoner’s dilemma. If you are the one scorer in the league who doesn’t resort to these tactics -- which Harris is -- you’re working from a disadvantaged position. The best foul draw-ers in the league are in a constant state of searching out and embellishing contact. Harris seems more content to let defenders get into his space as they please.
There are natural reasons that Harris is never going to be an elite, foul drawing machine. He doesn’t have the fluidity or herky-jerkiness that the Hardens, Butlers, and Lillards of the world have, which allows them to get defenders off balance and create opportunities for contact. But that doesn’t mean that Harris needs to be anywhere near as poor as he is. Harrison Barnes, for example, has a free throw rate nearly twice that of Harris’, and essentially has a poor (or at least less wealthy) man’s version of Harris’ skill set. Carmelo Anthony -- not prime ‘Melo, I mean this season -- even has a higher free throw rate than Harris.
Is it realistic to expect any major development from Harris? Probably not; players rarely transform in that way this deep into their careers. I’m fully expecting to remain in a constant state of frustration while watching him, wondering if anyone has ever informed him that getting to the free throw line is good.
But if he were ever to make even the simplest of changes -- making a habit of noticing when he can initiate contact or rip through into an opponent’s flailing arm -- he would make immediate strides in the right direction. If he ever does figure that much out, he will become a vastly more valuable player.