When the wild, unwelcome dust from the Dwight Howard tornado-trades eventually settled in the summer of 2012, a cast of no-names found themselves standing in Orlando. No one knew exactly who among them would stand times test and fill out the Magics future constitution. Some are already memories (Josh McRoberts, Al Harrington). But some are still here and appear to be central to the future of the team.
One of those former no-names is Maurice Harkless. Anytime you read about the bright outlook for the Magic or the successful pieces GM Rob Hennigan has accumulated, you almost always hear the names of Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Victor Oladipo, and Harkless, with the recent inclusion of Kyle OQuinn for some.
The first three are no-brainers in that regard; if they dont pan out, the whole rebuilding plan will undoubtedly collapse.
But the inclusion of Harkless always gets me thinking. Is he truly that vital? How significantly would the rebuild be derailed if he suddenly retired in order to stop people from hearing what the Herald Angels are singing?
Truthfully, if you compare his statistics from his most recent sophomore season to his first, his numbers are down in almost every category across the board. Not significantly, but the point is that the trend isnt on the up. He scored, rebounded, and blocked less than in his rookie year. These arent areas you want to see regression in from a building block player.
And then your eye fixes on one single stat that changes your entire outlook on Harkless: his 3-point percentage. What an improvement we find there. This past season he jumped over a hundred percentage points in made 3-pointers, from a painful 27.4 percent to a very healthy 38.3 percent.
To put that stat in perspective, its among the top 50 in the league and only .1 percent behind a guy named Kevin Durant, whos pretty good. Thats no fluke. Harkless has clearly worked very hard to expand his shooting arsenal.
Couple that improved shooting with his already-known defensive capabilities and you begin to see why there is so much promise to be found in the guy. He could be exactly the type of role player a winning team needs: a defensive stopper who specializes in the knocking down the most valuable shot in the game. What more could you really ask for?
A comparison
His game somewhat reminds me of a former Magic player: Trevor Ariza. Ironic, given that he was traded away by the Magic for his inability to shoot 3s before he eventually developed into a sharpshooter. I think its fair to say that if Harkless career ends up following Arizas path, Magic fans can consider that a win.
Ariza is a player who now is consistently averaging 1.5 to 2.0 steals per game, but it took him five seasons to even get above 1.0 per game. Harkless has been at that level right from the start. Ariza barely attempted 3s during his first five years; this past season, he finished among the league leaders in 3-pointer percentage at 40.7 percent. Yet hed never reached Harkless 38.3 percent before last year.
So its just possibly possible that Maurice Harkless is a Trevor Ariza type, a 3-and-D player with a lengthy wingspan, but on a faster and more extensive progression. Or its at least exciting to think that way.
The point: there is absolutely more room for growth, and hes only played two seasons in the league. The Magic are desperate for shooters, and seeing more improvement from the current players, and Harkless, may go just as far as bringing in outside help.
Lets keep putting Harkless in the Magic cornerstones category for now. Itll be exciting to see where the young man elevates his game to next.
