According to NBA.com's David Aldridge, Tobias Harris has declined a lucrative contract extension offer from the Los Angeles Clippers in hopes of earning a larger one next summer.
Clippers forward @tobias31 turns down $80 million extension offer from team, per sources. Amicable discussions. But he’ll play out final year of his current deal and be UFA next summer, when he’d be eligible for 5 yrs/$188M max from Clips or 4/$145.5 elsewhere.
— David Aldridge (@daldridgetnt) July 22, 2018
Harris is coming off his best season statistically — the 6-foot-9 forward averaged career-highs in scoring (18.6 points per game), rebounds (5.5 per game), assists (2.4 per game) and 3-point shooting (41.1 percent). According to Aldridge's report, the 26-year-old turned down the $80 million contract extension offer to join a potentially star-studded free agency class in 2019.
Los Angeles acquired Harris from Detroit in the late January trade that sent five-time All-Star Blake Griffin to the Pistons. Behind the play of Harris and Sixth Man of the Year Lou Williams, the Clippers finished the season with a record of 42-40 and were eliminated from playoff contention in the final weeks of the 2017-18 season.