Maurice Harkless is showing why he is valuable to the Trail Blazers’ long term plan
The Trail Blazers’ season has been full of surprises, but the late rise of Maurice Harkless might be near the top of that list. His jump in production has come at the right time for Portland and for his own contract situation. His versatility and athletic ability have made him a key component to the successful playoff push. He is slotted to be a RFA (restricted free agent) this offseason, will the Trail Blazers make sure he is part of their future plans?
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Harkless has impressed everyone since he stepped into the starting rotation last month. His on court production has basically doubled. In his last ten games he is averaging 13.2 PPG, which is well above his 6.4 PPG average on the season. Outside of his timely scoring, he has provided solid rebounding numbers in the same stretch (7.1 RPG) and added a spark to the defensive intensity (five straight games with at least one steal).
His size and speed make him a match up nightmare for opposing teams. His 6’9 frame allows him to guard multiple positions, while his speed allows him to get high percentage shots on the fast break. Harkless’ defensive ability has allowed the Trail Blazers to be more effective switching off of screens and finding the right match up on the wing. Al-Farouq Aminu and Harkless are interchangeable pieces on both ends of the court, forcing opposing coaches to pick their poison.
His sample size is fairly small with the starting unit, but it does have the benefit of being on Neil Olshey’s mind late in the season. The Trail Blazers’ current playing style features two guards that can score from anywhere, much like Golden State. If they are to continue to build inside that mold they might want to start looking at Harkless as a Draymond Green prototype. Green is effective at forcing his opponent into uncomfortable spots on both ends of the floor. That ability it something that Harkless has also displayed recently.
Outside of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, the Trail Blazers don’t have a clear cut third piece to build around for the future. Noah Vonleh has the tools to become a dangerous player in this league, but he is years away from fulfilling that potential. Harkless looks the part now and is only two years older than Vonleh. As mentioned above, Harkless allows Aminu to switch to the power forward position. Suddenly Aminu’s shooting goes from a slight weakness at the three to a slight strength at the four.
A successful transition to the power forward spot for Aminu could save the Trail Blazers a massive amount of money this offseason. Addressing the big man situation would be partly solved, which would allow Olshey to shift his focus to other needs. It would also save Portland from getting into an expensive bidding war with other cap rich teams this summer.
The biggest risk will be investing in a player that hasn’t produced regularly so far in his career. Harkless has thrived when he has a clear path to playing time though, so maybe an honest investment in his abilities is all he needs for his confidence. The next step would be improving his outside shooting (he must raise his current .274 3P%), which will be necessary to making Portland’s spacing work.
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At 22 years old he fits perfectly into the winning window the Trail Blazers are trying to establish. Tagging him as the third building block for the franchise is a lofty title, but he is at least worthy of becoming Portland’s number one retention priority this offseason.