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Sports Illustrated
The Brooklyn Nets are ahead of schedule. Coming into the 2018-19 NBA season very little was expected out of the young Nets team. Brooklyn hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2014-15 season, and actually hasn’t had a winning record since 2013-14.
Despite that the team has played well this campaign. Currently sitting at 34-33, and in the seventh seed of the Eastern Conference. Players like D’Angelo Russell, who was named an All-Star for the first time this season, big man Jared Allen and the play of a healthy Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie have been major reasons for Brooklyn’s success.
In the midst of these four players a different Net’s starter gets overlooked in the credit he deserves.
Joe Harris.
The four-year pro out of the University of Virginia is in the midst of his most proficient NBA season. He’s averaging 13.6 points, 2.5 assists in 30 minutes of play—all of which are career highs.
Harris does his best work though from behind the three-point line. The 6’6 shooting guard leads the league in three-point percentage at .47%. Harris is actually stringing together one of the most efficient shooting seasons ever for a guard. As he’s combining his .47% three point shooting percentage with a .50% field goal percentage and .83% from the free throw stripe.
The most notoriety Harris achieved so far this season is when he won the three-point contest in dominating, but still somehow reserved fashion.
The man can shoot.
Harris has taken a somewhat unique path to NBA success. Playing all four year at the University of Virginia for coach Tony Bennett. He finished his college career averaging 12.6 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.9 assists. The Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2014 draft then drafted Harris with the 33rd pick.
The sweet shooter played in only 56 games over two seasons for the Cavaliers in an incredibly minimal role—averaging 5.35 minutes a game. Harris’ NBA career was in some doubt when he signed for the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2016.
He almost immediately found success though with a larger role in Brooklyn, and his numbers have increased in each of his three seasons for the team.
Harris’ best game of the current season came in a 27-point clutch performance against the Charlotte Hornets.
There’s always room for a lights out shooter on a basketball team of any level, and Harris will be a major part of Brooklyn’s playoff push to close out the year.