Brooklyn Nets: Why We Shouldn’t Be Worried About Their Preseason Woes
By Sandy Mui
An unlikely star
Who is Joe Harris? Many Nets fans, including me, had no idea what kind of player the Nets got when they signed Harris back in July. If you want some quick facts about Harris and his time at Virginia, take a look at Sean’s player grades from last night’s loss — Harris was marked as the wildcard of the night. Despite yet another loss in the preseason finale, Harris put up 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, converting on all three of his treys.
Harris was a pleasant surprise for Brooklyn this preseason. Behind Lin, he was arguably the Nets’ second-best performer, and for good reason. The 25-year-old shooting guard has been shooting at a stellar 65 percent from distance through five preseason contests. This even includes a game in which he missed all three of his attempts. Three-point shooting has become a trend for Brooklyn, and Harris has shown that he can provide a hot hand.
Where Harris needs to improve is his defense, but there’s enough good in Harris for the Nets to have some use for him. He’ll provide some firepower off the bench, which the Nets desperately need since their bench finished last in difference efficiency last year. Harris will be a solid backup behind Sean Kilpatrick or Bojan Bogdanovic, whoever Brooklyn decides to deploy at the two in the main rotation.
After the Nets waived Yogi Ferrell this afternoon, it’s safe to say that Harris will land one of the final roster spots. Brooklyn’s roster is now down to 15, which pretty much means that roster cuts are finished. With what Harris displayed during the preseason, it’s unlikely that he’ll be the next man off the team.