"It's like a weight off my shoulders": Gary Harris relieved after signing extension

FORT CARSON, Colo. — It had been looming for weeks but late Saturday night the Denver Nuggets and Gary Harris agreed to terms on a four-year contract extension worth a guaranteed $74 million and potentially $84 million with incentives. Then, Harris put pen to paper Thursday at Pepsi Center, a place the 23-year-old will likely call home for the next four seasons.

“It’s definitely like a weight off my shoulders,” Harris said after the Nuggets wrapped up their open scrimmage Friday at Fort Carson. “I was focused on basketball anyway but you still had that thought in the back of your mind, ‘What’s going to happen?’ But I got it taken care of. Now, it’s time to focus on basketball.”

For Harris, the decision to stick in Denver was easy. He’s a fan of the city and the organization and with Denver heading into a pivotal season where they could start a gradual climb up the Western Conference hierarchy, there’s no other place he would rather be.

“It’s been a fun (three years),” Harris said. “And its been getting better each year.”

With Harris in tow and Denver potentially locking up franchise cornerstone Nikola Jokic with a maximum-level contract next summer, the core the Nuggets are building around is obvious. Jokic, Harris, at least for the next two years Paul Millsap, and Jamal Murray, who’s still on his rookie contract, are set to lead Denver for the foreseeable future.

“When I got the job there were some question marks,” coach Michael Malone said of the shooting guard. “Is Gary Harris an NBA player? I was a huge fan of Gary while at Michigan State. My first year I started him 76 games. The greatest gift you can give a player as a coach is confidence and I think Gary Harris realized from day one that I believed in him and I was going to give him a chance to play through his mistakes and continue to get better.”

Harris is a key cog in Denver’s offense with his shooting, his ability to play off of Jokic and his passing prowess but defensively is where he’ll need to make an increased impact this coming season.

With a revamped defensive scheme, Malone is counting on his guards like Harris to step up their intensity on that end of the floor.

“He’s a player that I really value because he’s a two-way player and I think he’s one of the better two-way players in the NBA,” Malone said. “So I love the fact that he’s going to be here because Gary Harris represents everything that we’re trying to be in terms of our Nuggets’ culture.”

A competitive scrimmage

Denver’s open scrimmage at Fort Carson Friday inside a packed gymnasium was a fun environment that Nuggets’ players and coaches certainly relished.

Of course, Malone had his eye on Denver’s ongoing point guard and backup power forward battles that remain undecided with just six days until the Nuggets’ regular-season opener in Utah.

“I thought our guys went out and played hard. It was a good scrimmage,” Malone said. “I think the fact that guys are still trying to earn spots and minutes played into that so it was good to see guys play the right way.”

The Blue Team, which was made up of Murray, Harris, Wilson Chandler, Millsap, Jokic, Jameer Nelson, Trey Lyles and others, was victorious over the Grey Team, that consisted of Emmanuel Mudiay, Will Barton, Juancho Hernangomez, Kenneth Faried and Mason Plumlee, by a final score of 84-65. After a close three quarters, Blue pulled away in the fourth.

Official statistics weren’t available but Jokic had a strong showing.

“The most important part was the fact that we could come out to Fort Carson and put on a show for our soldiers and men and women that sacrifice every day for us,” Malone said. “It was basketball, mission accomplished, but more importantly reminding our guys how grateful we should be for what the military does for us on a daily basis.”