A measure of finality to the Orlando Magic’s 2014-15 season will arrive this weekend. After the Magic host the Toronto Raptors on Friday night, the Magic will play their home finale against the New York Knicks on Saturday night.
There’s a possibility this weekend will be an ending of sorts for Tobias Harris, too.
The games might be Harris’ final home games as a Magic player because Harris is on track to become a restricted free agent in July. Although the Magic would have the right to match any offer Harris signs with another team, there’s no guarantee the Magic would keep him for the long term.
The 22-year-old forward insists the possibility that Saturday’s game could be his final home game as a Magic player hadn’t crossed his mind until a reporter recently asked him about that scenario.
“This is the team I’m on right now,” Harris said Thursday. “This is the team I’m focused on. That’s all I can worry about. I trust in God’s plan for my life, and everything that’s going to happen in the future I know will work out for the best. That’s how I look at it.
“There’s a lot of things you have to look at in any type of free agency, but what I think what everybody’s beginning to forget is that [I’ll be] a restricted free agent. So whatever happens, it’s in the organization’s hands to make a call. So I think everybody has to really keep that in mind and not just say, ‘You might want to go here and there.’ “
At some point between the last game of the NBA Finals and June 30, the Magic will make a qualifying offer of about $3.4 million.
If Harris declines the offer, he will become a restricted free agent.
If Harris accepts the offer, he would be under contract for the Magic at that salary for the 2015-16 season and would become an unrestricted free agent in July 2016.
It’s rare for a player to accept a qualifying offer, but it’s not unprecedented. Before this season, Greg Monroe accepted the Detroit Pistons’ qualifying offer of $5.5 million. Although Monroe cost himself money this season, he ensured that he won’t have to remain with the Pistons for the long term if he doesn’t want to do so. This summer, the Pistons won’t have the right to match another team’s offer.
Harris said he and his agents haven’t discussed the possibility of accepting a qualifying offer.
He’s attempted to keep his mind on the present, and he said he won’t start thinking about free agency until after the season.
By all accounts, he’s done a good job.
On Wednesday night, Harris had an uncharacteristic off-game, making just two of his 13 shot attempts during a victory over the Chicago Bulls. But even though Harris was on Orlando’s bench down the stretch, he was one of the first players to stand up and cheer when his teammates made big shots, and he did it with a smile on his face.
“I think he’s continued to just focus on being here,” said power forward Channing Frye, who is Harris’ first cousin.
“I think he understands that, at the end of the day, things are going to work out that need to be worked out, and I think he has a firm belief that God is going to put him in the right place. The money thing for him I don’t think is too much of an issue. We know how good of a player he is. We know how well-respected around this league he is and how much talent [he has]. To me, I still think you haven’t seen the tip of the iceberg of what he can do.”
Magic officials always have liked Harris’ attitude and work ethic, and they have said that he has acted professionally all season long, even though the team didn’t reach a contract extension with him before a collective bargaining agreement-mandated Oct. 31 deadline to do so.
But what worked against Harris then still works against Harris now: The small forward position, which is Harris’ primary spot, is one of the NBA’s deepest, most talent-laden positions. In addition, the Magic also have another talented young combo forward waiting in the wings, 19-year-old Aaron Gordon.
Harris’ value is difficult to ascertain.
The New York Knicks are one of the teams that will have a significant amount of cap space available this summer. Because Harris hails from Long Island, N.Y., rumors have surfaced all season that the Knicks might make a push to sign him in restricted free agency.
Harris has kept mum about the Knicks, and yet that hasn’t stopped fans from latching onto every rumor, no matter how outlandish those rumors are.
“I’m not going to lie: It can be a distraction here and there,” Harris said. “But it’s nothing I focus on. Social media’s big in this day and age. So anytime a fan will read a rumor or read false words that never came out of my mouth and then tweet me . . . it doesn’t affect me.”
So it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Harris will attempt to approach this weekend like any other weekend during a season — even though Saturday night’s game might be his last home game as a Magic player.
jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Read his blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and follow him on Twitter at @JoshuaBRobbins.
