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By John DentonNov. 1, 2014
ORLANDO – The Orlando Magic and Tobias Harris did not reach a contract extension by Friday’s 11:59 p.m. deadline on Friday night, meaning the high-scoring forward will play out this season and become a restricted free agent on July 1.
Harris stressed that while he hoped his long-term future in Orlando would be locked up prior to this season, he won’t allow the lack of a contract extension to distract his focus of making the Magic a winner.
``I’ve said from the day that I’ve gotten here that I would love to stay here. This is home to me, a team that I love being a part of, I love the coaches and the organization,’’ Harris said. ``If we don’t get a deal done until the end of the season, it doesn’t change anything about the way that I feel. I’m all about my team and I’m all about going out there and trying to win games. That’s my focus.’’
Harris had 25 points and eight rebounds in Orlando’s opening loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, but he struggled mightily on Thursday – the day before the deadline to reach a contract extension. He missed his first four shots, made only four of 12 in the game and scored 14 points in another loss.
Orlando acquired Harris in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks in February of 2013 and he averaged 17.3 points and 8.5 rebounds in his first 27 games with the Magic. Harris was bothered by ankle troubles most of last season and saw his scoring average dip to 14.6 points in 61 games.
Harris worked hard on his body and his game in the offseason and reported to training camp in tremendous shape. He led the Magic in scoring in the preseason and hoped that he and the organization could hammer out a contract extension similar to the four-year deal that center Nikola Vucevic reached.
Harris said his motivation for the season will be to win games and not play for a bigger contract in the offseason. Because he will be a restricted free agent, the Magic will have the right to match any offer sheet that Harris reaches from another team.
``I think as a player, I have to continue to prove myself and I love the motivation because I love competing. I’ll do anything that I can for my team,’’ Harris said. ``What gives me motivation is winning games. Going up against the best players in the NBA and trying to do the best that I can, that motivates me. It’s a daily task to wake up in the morning and do everything that you can to be the best that you can be. I’ll be mentally focused every game on wanting to win.’’
INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR: Orlando’s Evan Fournier and Vucevic took some added extra motivation into Saturday night’s game against Toronto in that they wanted to get the upper hand on Raptors’ center Jonas Valanciunas, someone that both of them have competed against for years.
Fournier, a native of France, has played against Valanciunas, a Lithuanian, since he was 14 years old in international competitions. Vucevic, who was born in Switzerland but considers Montenegro home, played against Valanciunas briefly three years ago in some Euro League play and he’s always closely monitored the play of the Raptors’ big man.
``I played against him a lot of the time in Europe. We used to play every summer with Lithuania against France and they beat us a lot of times,’’ Fournier said. ``But we won the bronze medal against Lithuania this summer (in FIBA World Cup play), so it was great to beat him finally.’’
During the 2012 NBA Lockout, Vucevic chose to play Euro League ball to stay in shape and make some money as he was a rookie who had just been drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers months earlier. He played against Valanciunas then and he’s tracked the 7-footer’s career throughout his time in the NBA.
``I follow most of European players around the league and how they do. I kind of know them by playing them here and then I connect with them because of our time in Europe,’’ Vucevic said. ``I follow how they do and I always look to see how (Valanciunas) does in games.’’
Fournier, one of 10 players in the NBA with French ties, said the international appeal of basketball can be seen on just about every team in the NBA now. He grew up hoping to someday play in the NBA and he said he owes so much to some of the international players who blazed the path ahead of him.
``The NBA is more open now thanks to guys like (Dirk) Nowitzki and Tony Parker. I feel like they showed us the way and opened a lot of things for us,’’ Fournier said. ``Now, it’s our job to do it for the young guys. I always wanted to be here in the NBA. Some kids want to play on the greatest club team in Europe. But the NBA is the best league in the world, so this is special for me.’’
ETC: NBA Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson attended Saturday night’s game as a spokesman for Florida Hospital’s sponsorship of Prostate Cancer Awareness Night. Thousands of Magic fans were given blue paper mustaches to wear in hopes of raising awareness for the disease. Robertson, 77, battled his way through prostate cancer years ago and has pushed for men to get regular checkups and screening. According to the American Cancer Society, one in seven men will be diagnosed with center in their lifetime. Said Robertson: ``My prostate cancer was detected after a routine annual screening by my physician. I was not in pain and did not feel ill. I would not have known about the cancer had I not done the screening and followed up with my physician about my test results.’’ … Raptors coach Dwane Casey asked Robertson to address his team on Saturday to talk about his experiences as one of the game’s all-time greats and a trailblazer for younger players today. Said Casey: ``I was nervous introducing (Oscar), just giving him his props over the years, what he has accomplished, not only as a player but as a man. Donating his kidneys to his daughter, fighting prostate cancer and being a spokesman for prostate cancer, just all those things he's accomplished as a person and what he has meant to the NBA. It was great for our players, an education for them. A lot of them that haven’t seen him play, a lot of their parents haven’t seen him play, but he’s the reason, like it or not, that some of them are in the position they are today.’’ … Magic power forward Kyle O’Quinn missed his second consecutive game with a sprained ankle. O’Quinn suffered the injury in Tuesday’s opener and hasn’t practiced or played since. The hope is he can get in some individual work on Sunday, practice on Monday and play Tuesday when the Magic are in Chicago.