I expected to see Gary Harris more last year. With the Denver Nuggets’ struggles, it seemed like a great situation to get younger players some developmental time. Between Arron Afflalo, Randy Foye, Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Will Barton and Nate Robinson all getting playing time ahead of him at various points throughout the season, Harris never got a true shot to get a feel for the NBA game.
Heading into the 2015-16 season, there is a lot of talk about the potential for Harris to get more minutes or even start. Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post recently covered this in detail. While we all expect to see Harris get more playing time, his performance could be a key contribution to determining the team’s success beyond this season and into the next several years for the Nuggets.
There are arguments for both sides of whether or not limiting playing time for a young player, like Harris, is beneficial. Being thrown into the lion’s den early usually doesn’t lead to immediate success. Most young players struggle. The struggle can affect confidence and form bad habits, especially on losing teams, limiting a player’s ceiling and trajectory.
But that same struggle can also lead to finding weaknesses to improve and a better feel for NBA game speed that can’t be learned in practice. How it plays out depends on the player, coaching and surrounding teammates. In the 2014-15 season, he played in 55 games, including only six starts and 13 minutes per contest and scoring just 3.4 points on 30.4 percent shooting in that duration. That’s a lot of “Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision”s and some serious pine-riding,
Now, at only 21 years old and entering his second season, we should get a much better look at where Harris’ potential lies on the spectrum.
Arron Afflalo moving on is the obvious event that opens up some playing time, but the biggest change that is going to benefit Harris is the addition of Mike Malone. Malone, known as a defense-first coach, should take to the effort Harris puts on that end of the court. He’s also player’s coach, and Harris seems like he could gel really smoothly with the new play-caller.
We saw how superstar Demarcus Cousins took to Malone and the improvements he was able to make in their short time together. If Harris could similarly get on the same page with the new coach, we could see an accelerated learning curve for the second-year man out of Michigan State.
Will Barton, another young player waiting for his first real opportunity, will be battling with Harris for more time on the floor. Barton is much more suited to coming off the bench, in limited minutes, as an energy and change-of-pace guy. Barton probably doesn’t have the same scoring ability as Harris or the capability of taking over a game. We saw glimpses of what Harris can do in the Las Vegas Summer League:
Randy Foye will no doubt see his fair share of minutes at the shooting guard position. With how well he played last year, it seems deserved.
But the Nuggets should be playing for the future, similarly to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It recently came out this week that Zach LaVine will likely start over Kevin Martin. The T-Wolves are focused on development over small, short-term gains. Foye may produce better in the same minutes, but in a year with little playoff aspirations, playing for the future is more important. This year, the Nuggets need to give Harris a chance to be a part of that future. Foye is more suited to join a similar role to Jameer Nelson, being a veteran presence on the court while mentoring younger players.
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Harris has really impressed during the preseason, scoring 11.2 points per game, shooting 50 percent from the field, making 7-of-15 from three-point range, and maybe most importantly, playing great defense.
He’s recorded a combined on-court plus/minus of plus-84 thus far in the five preseason games, leading the team. Preseason numbers are always taken with a grain of salt and it doesn’t mean he is going to be in the running for Most Improved Player or anything of that nature, but he is showing his talent. He is earning his run.
Credit: Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports
With the current young talent on this team, there is a definitive feeling of a positive rebuilding process, compared to staying stagnant. Mudiay could be part of the next generation of star point guards, Nurkic will be a big part of the team this season, Lauvergne and Jokic have dazzled in the preseason and are raw with unique upside. And, while Kenneth Faried will never excel as somebody that can lead a team outright, he can be a key piece in a successful lineup. Add Harris to that nucleus and you can see the potential in two to three years, especially if they continue adding talented lottery picks.
A lot of pieces need to fall in place for Denver for success to come within the next few years, but the success of Harris would be a huge first step towards getting there.
If he can spread the court, be an asset for Mudiay, and play tough defense all year, they may be on a similar path as the current-era Washington Wizards. We could be talking playoffs sooner than later, even in a talented Western Conference.
Harris is going to have the opportunity this year, and while he doesn’t have to play perfectly, his potential and continued improvement need to shine. What he does with that this year will echo into the coming years.