The narrative has been Tobias Harris and Scott Skiles did not get along in Milwaukee. Skiles was telling a much different story that muddles the narrative.
As the Orlando Magic’s interest in Scott Skiles grew by the day — really since the Magic fired Jacque Vaughn in February — one nagging question remained: What would hiring Scott Skiles mean for Tobias Harris?
The stories between the two were pretty nasty.
In 70 games with the Bucks in his first two seasons, Harris played in just 11.5 minutes per game scoring 4.9 points per game and shooting 46.5 percent from the floor. The Bucks traded for Harris on Draft night, acquiring him from the Bobcats, so the Bucks saw something in him.
Harris could not find the court and his frustration began. He was hurt at the beginning of the season and his defense was not up to snuff. The Bucks moved on trading him to the Magic for J.J. Redick. The Playoffs were paramount and Harris got caught in the middle, according to Skiles.
“We were supposed to be built to win. And Mike Dunleavy was a better offesnvie player at that point and Luc Mbah a Moute was a better defensive player and Tobias got caught in between a little bit.” –Scott Skiles
“What we were trying to do in Milwaukee at that point was not necessarily our number one priority was to develop the guys,” Skiles said. “It was to win. That was the edict. We were supposed to be built to win. And Mike Dunleavy was a better offensive player at that point and Luc Mbah a Moute was a better defensive player and Tobias got caught in between a little bit. But nobody even during that season when Tobias was not playing as much as he would like, I never said to any person in the organization that I still didn’t love Tobias. He was 19 years old.”
That is the harm of a rookie being on a winning team and struggling to find his way. He needed the freedom Orlando could give him. He got minutes and made the most of them.
Next: Moving on and maturing