Joe Harris, a Brooklyn Nets guard out for the season due to injury. There are two possible outcomes from this: One is that the Nets will struggle mightily with their loss of him and miss the playoffs, or it could be a blessing in disguise as they can rely on more depth at his position and have time to develop other players while he recovers.
The “joe harris height” is a scary weapon the Brooklyn Nets will have. The injury Joe Harris suffered overshadowed a great performance from the Brooklyn Nets.
With Joe Harris’ injury in mid-November, the Brooklyn Nets’ offense lost a lot of its rhythm. Much of the movement, spacing, and shooting vanished without him. While there’s no telling when or if Brooklyn will return from ankle surgery, when he does, he might be terrifyingly effective offensively. In today’s NBA, having one knockout shooter is beneficial. But what happens if the Nets have two? This offers up an a new realm of possibilities.
The transaction that brought James Harden and Paul Millsap to the Philadelphia 76ers featured Ben Simmons as the main attraction. The Nets, on the other hand, got a repair for something that had been lacking for the last three months. Seth Curry, like Harris, is one of the NBA’s best three-point shooters. Steph’s younger brother, too, generates movement and space.
When will Harris and Curry be able to share the floor? Threes pouring like monsoon season, with constant motion, unusual screening activities, and threes raining like monsoon season.
What the Brooklyn Nets gave up as a result of Joe Harris’ injury
*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden} html,bodyheight:100% img,spanposition:absolute;width:100% ;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyhe spanheight:1.5em;text-align:center;font:48px/1.5 sans-serif;color:white;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow
Before Joe Harris’ injury, the Brooklyn Nets were the greatest three-point shooting team in the NBA. They’ve been one of the worst since then. That’s all there is to it.
In the previous four seasons, Harris has twice led the NBA in three-point shooting. He’s particularly dangerous as a catch-and-shoot threat, and the Brooklyn offense uses various screens to create open looks for the 30-year-old.
With good reason, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (when he is, you know, able to play) are the Nets’ top possibilities. Things became bogged down at times without Harris’ ability to keep the attack spacing. Aside from veteran Patty Mills, the ball seemed to stick, and when they did get other shooters open, Brooklyn didn’t convert them as well.
Brooklyn has ranked 24th in the NBA in deep shooting since Nov. 15, the day after Harris injured his left ankle and required surgery to remove a bone fragment. With the eight-year veteran, they were at 39.3 percent in 14 games.
In addition, the Nets rank 29th in terms of made threes and attempts during that time period.
Brooklyn ranks 15th in the country from long range, hitting 35.2 percent of the time. However, they rank seventh in the NBA in both makes and attempts.
Curry’s presence should help to alter that.
The Brooklyn Nets now boast the NBA’s top two 3-point shooters.
Now that Seth Curry (31) has joined the Brooklyn Nets, the injury to Joe Harris has delayed the combination of the top two current three-point shooters in the NBA. | Getty Images/Tim Nwachukwu
Two active NBA players have lifetime shooting percentages of more than 43%. Seth Curry, who has played in the NBA for eight seasons, is second on the list with a 43.7 percent success rate. He’s currently his club’s second-best career long-ball shooter.
This season, the 31-year-old was at the top of the rankings. Curry, on the other hand, has had a disappointing season by his standards, shooting 40.0 percent on 5.6 attempts a game.
Joe Harris, the 2019 Three-Point Shootout winner, was hitting 43.9 percent of his deep shots before to his injury. He’s shot an incredible 45.8% from beyond the arc during his breakthrough 2018–19 season.
Harris and Curry are both excellent catch-and-shoot players. Here are Harris’ stats from 2018–19:
- 155 out of 322 in 2018–19 (48.1 percent )
- 139 out of 312 in 2019–20 (44.6 percent )
- 183-of-355 in 2020–21 (51.5 percent )
- 38-of-81 in 2021–22 (46.9 percent )
Curry’s story goes like this:
- 78-of-157 in 2018–19 (49.7 percent )
- 99 of 206 in 2019–20 (48.1 percent )
- 90 out of 185 in 2020–21 (48.6 percent )
- 67-of-152 in 2021–22 (44.1 percent )
When both players are available, Brooklyn coach Steve Nash may vary their minutes such that a spot-up shooter is on the court for the whole 48 minutes. He may use both of them at times to provide some variety to the situation. Harris and Curry had the ability to screen for each other, go into complex pin-downs and curls, and drive defenders insane.
When Simmons is ready to play, the Nets will have even more options. Curry and the Australian point forward enjoyed nice symmetry in Curry’s first season with Philadelphia.
Despite the criticisms leveled at his shooting, Simmons is a willing and capable passer. With shooters like Harris and Curry on the court (not to mention Durant and Irving, who aren’t slouches from beyond the arc), he’ll wear out defenders.
If Joe Harris’ injury stops him from playing this season, there’s always next year.
*{padding:0;margin:0;overflow:hidden} html,bodyheight:100% img,spanposition:absolute;width:100% ;top:0;bottom:0;margin:auto;bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyheight:100% html,bodyhe spanheight:1.5em;text-align:center;font:48px/1.5 sans-serif;color:white;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow:0 0 0.5em black;text-shadow
Joe Harris’ medical condition took a turn earlier this month, with suggestions that the former Virginia star would need a second ankle surgery. Harris is nowhere close to returning to the court, despite the fact that he was scheduled to be out for four to eight weeks.
But it doesn’t rule out the possibility of a long-distance cooperation between Harris and Curry.
Harris’ four-year, $72 million contract with the Brooklyn Nets, which he signed in November 2020, runs through 2023–24.
Curry, meanwhile, has one year left on his four-year free-agent contract with the Dallas Mavericks, which he signed in July 2019 after a year with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Durant, on the other hand, inked a three-year, $149.5 million agreement with the Nets last summer, tying him to the team through 2025–26. Irving has a $36.5 million player option for next season, while Simmons’ contract is up after three years and $108.8 million.
Curry can replace most of what the Nets lost when Harris went down with an injury in the near term. When they can incorporate Simmons into their scheme, they’ll have an extra ballhandler/playmaker, something they lost when Harden departed. Durant is out with a sprained knee, but it’s expected that he’ll be back soon after the All-Star break.
Brooklyn has dropped to seventh place in the Eastern Conference after losing ten consecutive games. Given Irving’s predicament, the Nets may be better suited playing without home court advantage. With Joe Harris and Curry to keep the wheels going, they might be frighteningly strong next season.
Basketball Reference and NBA.com provided the statistics. Spotrac provided contract details.
RELATED: After a failed stint with James Harden, Kyrie Irving uses one tweet to further demonstrate his immaturity.
Related Tags
- joe harris contract
- joe harris 3 point percentage
- joe harris cavs
