The Pistons have said they want to re-sign Tobias Harris, but they were unable to make a deal with him during their exclusive negotiating window over the past two-plus weeks, and now the veteran forward will be meeting with five opposing teams at the start of free agency, a source tells Sam Amick of The Athletic.
While Amick doesn’t know which teams Harris will be meeting with or how those meetings will be held, Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line previously identified the Spurs as a potential Harris suitor.
Harris, who turns 34 next month, has played an important role in Detroit’s dramatic rise up the standings since he signed a two-year, $52MM contract with the team in the 2024 offseason. He’s considered a vital leader for the Pistons, both on and off the court, and was their second-leading scorer in the playoffs.
Harris put up solid if unspectacular stats (13.3 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 2.5 APG, 0.9 SPG on .469/.368/.866 shooting in 27.7 MPG across 63 regular season appearances) in 2025/26 after recording similar numbers a year ago. He was often cited by his teammates and head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as an example of a true professional, with Bickerstaff repeatedly referring to the 15-year veteran as his “safety blanket.”
“He’s always there when we need him,” Bickerstaff said in March (story via Aidan Chacon of SI.com). “That’s the greatest compliment you can give to a guy No matter the situation, no matter time, score – the play that needs to be made, Tobias has over and over again made that play…I’ve called him my safety blanket for a year and a half now. And that’s what he is for me and this team.”
While meeting with rival clubs suggests Harris at the very least may be open to leaving the Pistons, those conversations certainly wouldn’t preclude his return. Detroit holds his Early Bird rights and could theoretically offer him more money than most other teams could, though the fact that he hasn’t re-signed already leaves the door open for a possible exit.
