Western Conference Player of the Month Tobias Harris has the Los Angeles Clippers at the top of the West, and it’s hard not to be happy for him.
This is Tobias Harris’ eighth NBA season. If the Los Angeles Clippers were to trade him this year, he will have as many seasons where he has gotten traded part of the way through as he will all with the same team. That kind of instability is tough for a player.
Harris hasn’t used it as an excuse though, as through more than a month he’s given the Clippers ample reason to hold on to him no matter what. Harris was named the Western Conference Player of the Month on Monday after averaging 21.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in his first 22 contests of the young season.
If recent history is any indication, this will probably lead to an All-Star appearance for Harris. All of the various players of the month from the 2017-18 regular season ended up being All-Stars, and most of the time players who have received that honor in the first few months of the season have ended up as All-Stars over the last few seasons.
Based on the combination of his own numbers and his team’s success, it isn’t a stretch to believe Harris belongs there. His Clippers were 15-6 through October and November, and at the top of the Western Conference.
In addition to his counting numbers, Harris has been Los Angeles’ most reliable contributor. He’s the only Clipper to start all 22 of the team’s games thus far. The Clips may not hold a top spot in the conference through December, much less the whole regular season, but Tobias Harris is rightfully being recognized for how his team has performed thus far.
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