DENVER — After Gary Harris‘ rookie season, there were serious doubts about the Michigan State product’s NBA future.
It seems blasphemous after the year Harris has put together in his third season, but after a rookie campaign where the now-22-year-old shot just 20.4 percent (21-103) from distance in a league’s that’s progressively becoming more and more reliant on the three-point shot, no one quite knew what to expect from the two-guard going forward.
“Before I got the job, there were questions about what kind of player he was going to be,” Michael Malone said of Harris. “When I got here, I started him for 76 (games) and he showed me the potential he had offensively and defensively.”
Fast forward two years and there’s no doubt about Harris’ standing in the league.
He’s a two-way shooting guard who’s one of the best cutters in the game today. Harris’ underrated athleticism has propelled him to shoot 61.2 percent in the restricted area this season but it’s his jumper that’s drawn the attention of many around the league. After a slew of early-season injuries that have limited Harris to just 37 of a possible 61 games this year, the 6-foot-4 guard is finally in a healthy groove.
Harris is shooting 42.0 percent from three this season, a 6.5 percent hike from last year and a mark that slots him as the 11th-most accurate long-range marksman in the league today.
For Harris, the formula this year has been simple: Be ready to shoot. Shoot with confidence. Wait for the splash.
“I’ve been shooting the ball for so long. It’s just a matter of coming in with confidence and just knocking down the shots,” Harris said. “Being ready to shoot at all times.”
Of the league’s most frequent catch-and-shoot wings (who have taken at least 100 three-point jumpers of that variety this season), Harris ranks 15th overall at 44.4 percent. That places him right between three-point sniper Nick Young and Mr. 37-point third quarter himself, Klay Thompson. Harris’ catch-and-shoot conversion rate is up seven percentage points from last year.
“All summer long, he was one of our best workers,” Malone said. “He lived in the gym. He worked on his body. He worked on his handle and he worked on his shot. And right now, he’s playing with great confidence. He’s shooting with great confidence.”
Harris isn’t just taking your run-of-the-mill threes either. He’s stretching his jumper out to beyond the arc, launching long-range daggers without thinking twice.
Playing with Nikola Jokic doesn’t hurt either.
Without Jokic on the floor, Harris’ Offensive Rating this season stands at 117, per NBAWowy.com. An impressive number that speaks to the Nuggets’ potency on the offensive end of the court. Denver has the No. 1 ranked offense since Dec. 15, the date Malone inserted Jokic into the starting lineup at center and even as injuries ravaged the Nuggets’ rotation, the plug-and-play style Denver was forced to adapt to hasn’t watered down their offensive production.
However, with Jokic, Harris’ Offensive Rating jumps to 121.
“You just gotta keep moving,” Harris said of playing with Jokic. “If you keep moving, he’s going to find you.”
Harris is trending towards solidifying his spot as Denver’s two-guard of the future. His defense has taken a step back this year but Denver’s fluid scheme and inconsistency up and down their roster on that end of the floor shoulders much of the blame.
An above 40 percent shooter, who can hold his own on the defensive end and can cut and read defenses like Harris is a not only a coach’s dream, but a foundational piece to any organization who can carry his own weight while also molding his game to fit the pieces around him.
“He hasn’t finished developing. He can still get better and I know he will because of his work ethic,” Malone said. “He’s a competitor. He wants to be out there and I trust him on the floor. One of the greatest things you can say as a coach about a player is you trust him out there and I have complete faith and trust in Gary Harris.”
