Maurice Harkless is on track to earn his $500,000 bonus for shooting above 35% beyond the three-point line.
Last season, Maurice Harkless underwent speculation regarding the $500,000 bonus included in his four-year, $42 million contract.
Down the final stretch of Portland’s fight for the playoffs, Harkless barely sat above his targeted 35% shooting from deep. While bonuses generally incentivize a player to perform better, Moe found himself passing up three-point attempts. The rumors made sense: he’s not a consistent outside shooter so not taking the shot maintained his percentage better than taking it.
In an interview with Jason Quick of NBC Sports Northwest, Harkless opened up about the bonus. After attempting one three-pointer in the final four games of last season, he said,
"“I wasn’t thinking about it last year at all until everybody starting talking about it and it kind of came to my attention, and obviously the last game I knew I didn’t need to shoot, so I didn’t shoot. And I mean, we already clinched the playoffs… why would I?”"
The Blazers lost the final game of the year to the New Orleans Pelicans, 103-100. Maurice Harkless did not shoot a single three-pointer.
2017-2018
This season, Harkless has the same three-point bonus. With ten games remaining, he’s shooting 41.6% from beyond the arc, an impressive career-high. The improved percentage also comes with more attempts; Moe is on track to shoot around 140 three-pointers for the season.
Looking past the percentages, the Blazers forward has converted 47/113 attempts from deep. To drop below 35%, he would need to miss his next 22 attempts (47/135 is 34.8%).
There’s two clear reasons why Harkless won’t miss his next 22 threes.
- He averages two three-point shots per game. With ten games to go, he’ll barely reach the 22 required attempts (all of which he’d need to miss).
- In the month of March, Harkless is shooting 59.1% from three. Opposing defenses focus primarily on containing Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, leaving Harkless consistently open on the wing. He’s proved capable of knocking down uncontested three-pointers recently.
Next: Is it time to worry for Blazers fans?
All in all, rest easy Blazers fans. Harkless is playing the best basketball of his career right now and the $500,000 bonus won’t affect that.