The already depleted Nets would have been in even bigger trouble heading to Orlando if forward and impending free agent Joe Harris had decided to sit out the remainder of the season. Fortunately for Brooklyn, Harris never seriously considered that option, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post.
“It’s obviously stuff that you have to think about and discuss. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t like it was a difficult decision for me,” Harris said in a Zoom call with the media. “I’m healthy. I’m going to play and finish out the season.”
Despite tumbling revenue around the league due to the coronavirus pandemic, Harris is expected to get a healthy raise. He is on the back end of a two-year, $16MM deal.
Harris is averaging a career-high 13.9 PPM, 4.3 RPG and 2.1 APG this season while shooting 41.2% from long range. He suffered a significant ankle sprain in Brooklyn’s last game before play was halted, so his declaration of good health is significant.
“It’s obviously a different circumstance given everything that’s going on and the time off that we’ve had,” Harris said. “But the way that I look at it is like, ‘All right, we have eight games left. This is the equivalent of Game 74 in the regular season.’ I wouldn’t take the last eight games off of the season just to get ready for free agency.”
A comparable player heading to free agency, the Wizards’ Davis Bertans, opted to sit out the remainder of the season. Bertans has a history of ACL injuries.
The Nets will be without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in Orlando. DeAndre Jordan won’t play after testing positive for COVID-19 while guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who is also recovering from the virus, is undecided about playing. Nicolas Claxton is also injured, while Wilson Chandler has decided to sit out for family reasons.
a genuine person, refreshing
Makes no real difference if he does or not, Brooklyn is finished.
It does for his status in the league
I wonder if Nets will keep him or hopefully sign with Knicks
As bad as NY is, they may indeed have a brighter future than the Nets.
Where do you get that? KD, Kyrie and DJ are all likely to be healthy and back next season, then are under contract for three years. Yes, they need to nail down contracts on role players, but the Nets are much more likely to contend for a championship before the Knicks.
DeAndre is just a backup now and has never gotten past the second round of the playoffs, even when he played with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in their prime.
Even a healthy Durant next season isn’t going to be the player he was before the injury. He will still be good enough to make the All-Star team in a conference very short on talent, but he’s no longer the MVP-caliber player he was in GS and OKC.
And lastly Kyrie is a cancer to the team, the main reason they have zero chance of winning a title with him on their roster.
0 chance huh? Tell that to LeBron and the rest of the Championship roster from the Cavs. You’re a bum.
Haha agreed bane….Can’t imagine that the Knicks have a more promising future over these next 3 years (remaining contract length for KD and Kyrie) unless a top 10 player demands to be traded to Knicks
Promising might be the word worth arguing here, but if you look at the Nets cap table…they don’t really have much maneuverability with KD/Kyrie/DJ.
They devalued their own draft picks by building a team that’ll easily clear lottery territory — so you’re not moving those picks for any perceived needed help.
They’ll have to exercise Caris’ bird rights this off-season & his salary jumps to like $15M+ and he might be the best trade piece they have, but why…? Having his versatility alongside KD & Kyrie could be beneficial.
Point being, the Nets are who they are. I don’t see the roster changing that much over the next few years. DJ is basically the unmovable 3rd part of their big 3. Trading any other assets (Spencer/LeVert) would be a lateral move at best. Allen doesn’t have the kind of value that’s tipping any scales.
Knicks are a blank slate. Competing for a chip? Hell no. But, over the cap with a key player complaining that the team needs “better players” the way Kyrie did this season? Nope.
If KD & Kyrie opt into their contracts for the 22/23 season, the Nets rostered cap holds are:
KD: $42,778,850 (with incentives)
Kyrie: $36,503,300
LeVert: $18,796,296
DJ: $9,821,842
$109,050,288 via 4 players.
If the top two don’t opt in, and the Nets did not win a chip in 20-21 or 21-22… did they fulfill their “promise”?
So your Nets-hatred is so bad you will lionize the Knicks.
As 4qtrs says, the Nets cannot change personnel very much, but they have good personnel. The Knicks would have to be different, which is harder.
Nothing bad seems to be happening with the Bucks & Raps, just sayin.
Joe Harris stats
14 pts, 4 rebs, 2 assts
Market value 4 years 52 million
Knicks have to pay him at 4 years 60 million to get him
Repeat: overpaying players is the Knicks only option to succeed in free agent market.
Joe wants to roast Orlando for cutting him after they acquired him from Cleveland. Just like Dinwiddie with the Bulls lol
Also, how have NY fans become even worse than Lakers fans with thinking they’ll sign literally anyone?
Better title: Playing not a difficult decision for Joe Harris