Gary Harris has made a name for himself this season not just for the Denver Nuggets fan base, but to the rest of the NBA as well.
When it comes to the Denver Nuggets, there are still many NBA peers from around the league who do not know who Gary Harris is, the starting shooting guard.
We all know that Nikola Jokic is the clear cut number one option for the team. However, the debate on who the second best player on the Nuggets is has raged on for the past couple of seasons now.
Some will say Jamal Murray, others will make a case for Paul Millsap.
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However, Gary Harris has clearly became the solidified number two option on the team so far this season. So far this year, Harris is averaging a player impact estimate of 11.7. He is also averaging a total of 18.9 points per game which is a career high so far to go along with a steal per game.
Not to mention, he also has yet to allow match up to score more than 10 points on him this season. His defensive versatility has been invaluable as he is averaging a career best defensive rating of 105 to go along with an offensive rating of 118. As a result, his career defensive rating is currently at an impressive 98.7.
Harris also possesses a steal percentage of 1.5% and a block percentage of the same percentage as well. Harris also being used the most as he has ever been utilized in his entire career as he has a usage rate of 22.9% which is an increase from his 20.7% last year.
Not to mention, Harris is one of Nikola Jokic’s favorite targets when he is cutting to the basket. For this season, Harris is 60% on field goals which are less than 5 feet from the basket. Denver is lucky to have such a great two way threat on their team at the shooting guard spot and these numbers show that he has solidified himself as the second best player on the team behind Nikola Jokic.
Hopefully, Harris will continue to play at this level for the rest of the season and have yet another improved season statistically. Why not go even further and make a case for him winning Most Improved Player?
After all, he has the stats and analytics to make his case. All in all though, Harris is clearly Denver’s second biggest threat.