Denver Nuggets final report card: Gary Harris

 

Over the next few weeks, the BSN Nuggets staff will review the Nuggets season, player-by-player. We’ll look at their performance from 2015-16 and forecast what type of impact they’ll make next season.

Reflecting on 2015-16

After the Nuggets acquired him in a 2014 draft day trade, Gary Harris found himself buried on the bench, playing in just 55 games in a lost rookie season under coach Brian Shaw. His young career was at an early crossroads after only one year in the league.

New head coach Michael Malone recognized this season as a new opportunity for Harris.

“Gary is really basically coming back as a rookie,” Malone said at media day. “[He] never got enough minutes last year to really feel like he got his feet wet and learn the NBA.”

Harris proved enough in training camp and Summer League to start game one of the season, and subsequently started all 76 games he played in 2015-16. That alone is a significant leap for a second-year player that started all of six games in his rookie campaign.

The season started with a logjam at the 2-guard spot between Harris, Will Barton and Randy Foye. With rookie Emmanuel Mudiay starting at point guard the odds were seemingly against Harris, as conventional wisdom would select a veteran backcourt mate for the 19-year old rookie. Credit Harris for earning that starting role, but recognize that decision as also revealing Malone’s commitment to the developmental nature of this season.

After a shaky start to the year, Harris had his breakout game in a home loss to the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 20. He scored 20 points on 8-13 shooting, hitting two of his four 3-point attempts against a strong Phoenix backcourt. With that performance, he completed his first career three-game streak of scoring double-digit points, and he’d go on to stretch that streak to five with 12 and 14 points in his next two outings.

Harris was just getting started.

Malone stayed true to his plan by steadily increasing the sophomore guard’s minutes. Harris responded by improving his points per game each month except for a slight dip in February and a very nominal slip in April.

One area where Harris excelled on offense was how intelligently he moved off-ball. Malone called the 21-year-old “our best off-ball mover” in January and his movement helped him carve out a niche as a floor spacer and spot-up shooter on the starting unit. Off-ball movement is essential for shooting guards, especially playing in an offense focused around a ball-dominant point guard in Mudiay, a dynamic three like Danilo Gallinari, and a passing big man in Nikola Jokic.

Harris as the fourth or fifth option in the starting five became a thing of the past when Gallinari suddenly went down for the season on Feb. 26 with torn ligaments in his ankle. Harris, luckily no longer a stranger to double-digit scoring, was thrust into a role as the second or third option on offense. He picked up the slack with 10+ points in 21 of 22 games (including 18 straight double-digit outings) from Feb. 24 to April 5. It was this stretch that put Harris on the map as a blossoming young scorer who would later earn a first-place vote for the NBA’s Most Improved Player award.

Harris finished the season averaging 12.3 points per game on 46.9 percent shooting from the field, 35.4 percent from three and 82 percent from the line, all large improvements over his rookie season. His efficiency from 3-point range is especially tantalizing since he moves well without the ball and usually plays with at least two great passers in Mudiay and Jokic. Continued work on his long range game can only yield good things for the Nuggets going forward.

However, there’s still a lot of areas where Harris can improve heading into next season. While a shooting guard’s most important metric is, well, shooting, the best 2-guards can fill up the rest of the box score as well. Harris had many nights where he scored efficiently but didn’t chip in anywhere else. That Nov. 20 game against Phoenix where he scored 20 points, but only registered two rebounds and zero assists or steals comes to mind.

His defense needs improvement, which could be said about almost every second-year guard that plays heavy minutes. His 108.6 DefRtg per NBA.com was bad; not the kind of performance Malone will tolerate long from a starting player, but a lot of that can be blamed on just how much Denver collectively struggled to get stops on that end of the floor all year. That said, after his nondescript rookie season, this year went about as well as could have been expected for Harris, who likely has carved out a long-term role for an improving Nuggets team.

Final report card grade: B+

Looking ahead to 2016-17

Harris’ rookie deal puts him under team control on a friendly contract through 2017-18, giving the Nuggets incredible bang for their buck out of the 2-guard position. Factor in that Harris’ backup and Sixth Man of the Year award candidate Barton will cost just $3.6 million next season, and the Nuggets are in an envious spot at a fairly thin position leaguewide.

The next phase of Harris’ development will need to focus on complementary parts of his offensive game and his overall defense. He’s proven he can be an effective starter in the NBA and an efficient scorer. The next level is becoming an all-around threat and if not a stopper, at least a smart, plus defender on the wing.

Over half of Harris’ field goal attempts last season, came with no dribbles, per NBA.com. His value was primarily as a catch-and-shoot option or backdoor cutter.

These are important facets of a modern NBA offense, but Harris can work on becoming more dynamic off the bounce as you can bet defenders will run him off the 3-point line more often next year. He has great hands and should be able to create off the dribble with more experience in-game situations. Last season he took just under four shots per game within five feet of the rim, converting on a respectable 59.5 percent of them. Look for those numbers to increase as he adds strength and gets more comfortable finishing against contact.

Harris’ 1.3 steals per game is encouraging but he needs to improve defending the 3-point shot. Harris ranked near the bottom of all guards, allowing opponents to shoot 41 percent from three, per NBA.com, and shooters improved their normal 3-point percentages by almost five percentage points when being guarded by Harris. Expect him to have these numbers drilled into his head over the summer by the Nuggets coaching staff. Improvement in this area will vastly improve his poor DefRtg.

Harris has shown that it’s unwise to bet against him making strides, so chances are the Michigan State product will take another step forward in 2016-17. There will be hiccups and setbacks as he’s just 21-years-old and playing big minutes with a young core that includes Mudiay, Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic. That Harris can be considered a key part of that core after a wasted rookie season is a win for this coaching staff and development team.