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Trail Blazers: Can Harkless Find Enough Playing Time?

By Michael Miller

Feb 6, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) dunks against the Houston Rockets in the second half at Toyota Center. Portland won 96 to 79. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 6, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) dunks against the Houston Rockets in the second half at Toyota Center. Portland won 96 to 79. Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports /
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After a summer of spending, the Trail Blazers jumped from the fourth cheapest roster to a league-leading $119,595,973. Perhaps the most surprising signing was the return of 6-9 Small Forward, Maurice Harkless.

Whilst his first Rip City campaign was far from a breakout performance, GM Neil Olshey thought enough of Maurice Harkless to re-up him on a four-year 40 million dollar deal. So what did the Blazers front office see in a fourth year player? It couldn’t be solely based on his career averages of just 6.7 PPG and 3.5 RPG. Especially given the depth Portland now has at small forward.

Harkless was only sporadically used for the majority of the 2015-16 regular season. To the point where his minutes began to follow the same path they did when he was in Orlando. That said, a quick glance at his per 36 stats show that Harkless was on pace to average career highs in points, rebounds, and assists. But that’s a bit of a shaky reason to give a guy $40 million though.

Room to grow

This contract is definitely based on his potential to grow as a player. The Rip City faithful saw glimpses of how he can fit with and benefit the team. Following his insertion in to the starting five late in the regular season, the Trail Blazers pulled off their most successful run of the season, which helped them secure the fifth seed in the playoffs (note: he previously had started only three games in early February). The money starts to make sense with that alone, but you can’t forget that Harkless is still only 23 years old.

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Over the last eleven games of the regular season – Harkless’ minutes increased to 27.5 MPG. These extra reps helped his averages jump to 12 points (on 47.6% shooting), 6.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals. It is a small sample size, but a clear sign of what he can do if given the opportunity. Even with the intensity of the NBA Playoffs (where traditionally pace and scoring drops), he stayed close to his stats. With less court time; he averaged 11 PPG (on 42.7% shooting), 5.1 RPG, and 0.9 SPG (courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com).

Opportunity is the problem facing Harkless this year? Last season Al-Farouq Aminu averaged 28.5 MPG and those numbers might increase coming into this season. Portland’s most expensive summer acquisition, Evan Turner, averaged 28.0 MPG for Boston. This pending logjam begins to make the 40 million dollar investment look a little questionable.

Apr 27, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) guards Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) in the first quarter of game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 27, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Maurice Harkless (4) guards Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) in the first quarter of game five of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /

Potential Stopper

One of the biggest questions raised about this Blazers roster has been their defensive identity. In Harkless’ brief time starting, we saw glimpses of a solid wing defender with the potential to guard multiple positions. In an era where length is coveted on the defensive end – Terry Stotts could have three players at his disposal (Harkless, Turner, and Aminu).

Think of the line-up options that gives Trail Blazers, especially if Harkless can develop some consistency as a stopper. C.J. McCollum struggled last year against bigger guards like Klay Thompson. But as we saw in the playoffs, Harkless could handle his own. This could be a way to neutralize that mis-match (albeit with a significant drop-off on offense). Of course that is a best case scenario based on nothing but speculative optimism.

Next: Portland's Biggest Questions Before Training Camp

The Money

So how bad is the contract? Truth be told, the Harkless deal is win-win for the Trail Blazers. They have a young player with the potential to develop into a consistent starter. With the salary cap increase, we really see the true value in the contract. This year’s cap of $94,143,000 is a 34.5% raise on last year’s $70,000,000. So proportionality, the $8,988,764 Moe earns this season is the equivalent of a $6,683,592 salary last season. Suddenly the salary is little less difficult to swallow. Factor in that the salary cap reportedly set to increase again for 2017-2018 and Harkless’ contract is beginning to look like a steal.