Maurice Harkless could play a pivotal role for this Portland Trail Blazers team as a starting wing. So far, though, he’s been nearly invisible.
After playing in the first five, Maurice Harkless missed 12 games of the season due to a knee injury. He’s since returned to the Portland Trail Blazers rotation for the last five contests. But if you haven’t been watching closely, you may have missed him. On the floor, he has been nearly invisible on both sides of the ball. A ghost in a jersey.
So far this year, Harkless is averaging three points, 3.1 rebounds, and .5 assists in 15.2 minutes per game. Granted, Harkless is trying to find his rhythm, and with all the time he’s missed, it may take longer than five games for him to get back into form.
But thus far, he hasn’t looked particularly engaged.
Against the Denver Nuggets, Harkless went 1/4 from the field and had two turnovers. His lone basket came as Al-Farouq Aminu drove and found him on a cut. Too often though, he was stuck out on an island, sitting in one of the corners waiting for a pass that rarely came.
But Harkless is better known for his reputation as a defensive stalwart. He did get two steals in Portland’s loss to Denver, but I also noticed him sagging off his man and not giving pressure to the ball-handler in the post – who was oftentimes Nikola Jokic.
He seemed to be out in no-man’s land, waiting to gamble for an outlet pass. With his defensive prowess and limited minutes, one would assume he would make a bigger impact from play-to-play in disrupting some of the Blazers’ best opponents. However, he seems to fade into the background.
And this has been the problem for Harkless this year. The ball isn’t finding him on offense, and he only occasionally finds the ball on defense – those two steals were his first takeaways since his return against the Milwaukee Bucks.
His issues may certainly be related to his knee; he has spoken about how he is still feeling tightness there. However, in the same interviews, he has also said that it’s feeling good. To Jamie Hudson of NBC Sports Northwest, Harkless said:
"“I’ve been feeling good. When I’m out there, I feel like I’m moving well.”"
So, maybe we shouldn’t let the knee be a pass. Maybe we should be expecting more.
As the de facto starting small forward on this Blazers team, Harkless could play a major role in their success.
For one thing, he will need to be capable of guarding some of the best two-guards in the league when CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard can’t, on top of being solid with his regular wing matchups. He will need to play a major role in helping an ailing Portland defense to continue appearing with the starters.
His defense has to be nails, especially since he has not yet found his shooting stroke from the year before. Last season, he shot a blistering 41.5% from deep on two attempts per game. This season, he has made only three of his 16 attempts (and has yet to make one since his return).
Because Aminu has been shooting poorly this season, either he or Harkless must find their shots to keep the floor open for Lillard and McCollum to go to work in the lane. As of now, defenders have stopped respecting their shots.
Ideally, both would shoot above 35% from deep to keep defenders honest, and to help give Jusuf Nurkic room when he works down low.
While there is no reason to panic yet, there should be some very real concern over just how invisible he has become on the floor.
The good news is that his teammates still have full support for him and are being patient as he finds his groove. Aminu told Hudson:
"“[Harkless]’s been doing this for a long time now… As long as you continue to keep putting in your work, you trust your process… taking care of your body, different things like that and at the end of the day your work will speak for themselves.”"
The version of Harkless that is a true 3-and-D wing who makes opportune cuts could be exactly what the Blazers need to raise their ceiling. He has the potential to become this.
What do the Trail Blazers need?
— Rip City Project (@ripcityproject) November 30, 2018
But he’ll need to find his rhythm sooner rather than later. The Blazers can only hold water in a tough Western Conference for so long.
Harkless will get his next shot against the San Antonio Spurs on December 2.