On a Brooklyn Nets team that’s overflowing with star power given the presence of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden, taking away former second-round pick Joe Harris is rarely the main component of the opponent’s defensive gameplan. However, Harris is starting to show everyone just how lethal he can be as a scorer.
With Harden and Irving dominating the ball, and Durant remaining one of the best scorers in the entire game, Harris has been left open for plenty of quality looks from deep. Luckily for Steve Nash, he isn’t missing many of these.
Harris has been averaging 15.7 points per game on 52% shooting overall and an insane 50% from 3-point range on just under eight attempts per game since the Harden trade. Underrated for years on some anonymous Nets teams, Harris is finally getting the recognition he deserves.
Joe Harris had 13 points (5-11 FG, 3-7 3PT), 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in the Nets’ 124-120 win over the Clippers!
— Hoos In The NBA (@hoosinthenba) February 3, 2021
Joe Harris is an elite sharpshooter for the Brooklyn Nets.
On a team that had a lot of money tied up in Durant and Irving heading into the offseason, it’s not unreasonable to have questioned the $75 million deal the Nets gave Harris to keep him in black and white. Since then, however, Harris has averaged 15 points per game while shooting 49% from beyond the arc, more than living up to the deal.
With so much firepower on offense, it’s easy to forget about someone like Harris waiting patiently in the corner. Due to opposing defenses rarely focusing on him, or assuming that he’s only a deadly offensive weapon from the perimeter, he’s been able to both rise up from deep and attack the rim, all while not demanding the ball in his hands often.
JO33Y
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) February 3, 2021
back-to-back from deep to start the 2nd 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/uHow3cEO7i
It was fairly obvious, given the fact Steve Nash and Mike D’Antoni are on this coaching staff, that Brooklyn wanted to play as fast as possible and shoot as many threes as the defense would allow. Having one of the best in the game at that particular craft has made it impossible for defenses to truly hone in on one player
Brooklyn chose to hold on to Harris during their roster purge, as they valued what he can bring to the table as an off-ball scorer. He’s rewarding their confidence in him by putting up some numbers that look like something out of 2K with all the sliders turned up.
As long as Harris’ 3-pointer is connecting, Brooklyn will be a team that scares opposing defenses to the core, even when one of the three superstars is out.