Gary Harris: Steal of his draft class
By Mathew Huff
Gary Harris was not the most highly touted prospect in his draft class, but he now looks like an absolute steal for the Denver Nuggets.
Many fans forget that it was not the Denver Nuggets, but actually the Chicago Bulls that drafted Gary Harris. Harris was actually traded to the Nuggets in the draft along with Jusuf Nurkic ironically.
Denver Nuggets
He was the 19th pick in the 2014 draft while guys like Dante Exum, Julius Randle and Elfrid Payton were selected ahead of him. At the time, these seemed like players bound for success compared to Gary, but this is not the case now. At first, Gary Harris looked like a bust for the Nuggets. His first season came with a lot of growing pains and many fans were wondering if he was worth giving up Doug McDermott, the guy he was traded for in his draft class. Those doubts were quickly laid to rest the following year as Harris solidified himself as the starting two guard for Denver and became a terrific two way player.
Last season, he developed his offensive game and became a top ten three point shooter percentage wise in the league. If one looks at his stats, he has continually improved every season so far. There is a reason people compare him to Jimmy Butler. Butler was also in a similar scenario when he first entered the league and is now one of the stars of the NBA. A team like Orlando would have benefited much more with Gary Harris than they did with Elfrid Payton. Exum for the Jazz still has promise, but Harris could have formed a terrifying lineup on Utah last season with Hayward and Gobert.
Instead, we get to be blessed with the potential he possesses and the magic he and Nikola Jokic seem to have together when he cuts to the rim for a nice dish from the Serbian sensation. Next season, he will help form a borderline big three with Denver since they now have Jokic and Millsap.
Next: Nuggets miss out on Simmons
Harris is not quite a solidified star, but if he continues to improve at the pace he has been this upcoming year, he will quickly become one.