Tobias Harris is off to a career start in a contract season.

The 26-year-old forward is averaging 20.8 points and 8.6 rebounds per game while pushing the Clippers to a three-way tie for the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed. Harris is also shooting the ball extremely well, connecting on 51.6 percent of his overall shots and 43.4 percent of his 3-pointers.

After being traded thrice in the first seven years of his career, Harris appears to have found a long-term home in Hollywood. He’s a top scoring option for the Clippers and his production looks somewhat sustainable despite his hot start.

TOBIAS HARRIS SHOT FREQUENCIES THROUGH NOV. 24 (via NBA.com/stats)

Season	% of Tight Shots (Closest Defender 2-4 feet away)	Shooting %
2017-18	35.2	50.4
2018-19	42.3	58.6

 

Harris is clearly hitting an unsustainable rate of contested shots, but there might not be much of a drop-off considering his relative success last year in similar spots. The Clippers will look to eliminate as many of these looks as possible, but Harris likely won’t see much regression here.

Season	% of Open Shots (Closest Defender 4-6 feet away)	Shooting %
2017-18	29.7	43.5
2018-19	21.9	58.3

 

On open shots this season, Harris is making defenses pay.

He’s not getting as many open looks as last year due to the additional attention he’s received from opponents, but he’s taking advantage of his limited opportunities. As the Clippers’ peripheral players continue to develop and become offensive threats, Harris should see more open looks.

Harris has also developed into more of a creator for himself this year. According to basketball-reference.com, only 25.7 percent of Harris’ 2-point makes have come off assists. This is by far the lowest rate of his career, meaning he’s creating great looks himself. If Harris can continue to attack the defense in isolation situations, it should open up more options for his teammates as well.

Even though the Clippers don’t take a lot of 3s (28th in the NBA in attempts), they’re connecting at the fourth-best mark in the Association. This efficiency has led to LA possessing the third-highest scoring offense and sixth-best offensive rating during this young season.

Harris is thriving in his featured role and the timing couldn’t be better.

He’ll be an unrestricted free agent this season and should be entering the prime of his career. While he won’t attract star-level money, he’ll be a nice consolation prize for teams losing out on top options. Harris can play multiple positions and has even filled in as a small-ball center for the Clippers. He’ll be rewarded with a nice contract, but the deal he inks will be a bargain if he can continue his current production.

The Clippers, who have plenty of cap space, reportedly plan on landing multiple star players to pair with their budding backcourt. They’ll have the option to pay Harris should they strike out on stars, but he might not even be available long enough for the Clippers to fall back on him.

Will Los Angeles reward Harris if he sustains his current production or will the forward end up on his fifth NBA roster in the summer?