The turning point for the Nuggets last season came on Dec. 15 when Mike Malone re-inserted Nikola Jokic into the starting lineup. Coming off of a 20 point loss to the Mavericks three days earlier, the Nuggets found themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference standings prior to the lineup change with a 9-16 record. They then went on to win 54.4 percent of their remaining games, doing so with the best offense in the league while Jokic proved himself worthy of being in the same conversation as Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid and Kristaps Porzingis as the future of the center position.
But Jokic wasn’t the only change to the lineup on Dec. 15. It’s also when Gary Harris returned from a foot injury that forced him to miss 15 straight games. While most of the team’s success during that stretch was because of Jokic — the Nuggets went from being outscored by 5.2 points per 100 possessions with him on the bench to outscoring teams by 6.5 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor — their offense took a significant hit when Harris wasn’t in the lineup, which is a testament to the chemistry he has already established with Jokic.
Quite simply, Harris is developing into the perfect backcourt player to pair with Jokic. Although he’s not a big-time scorer in the pick-and-roll, he proved to be one of the best shooters in the NBA last season by finishing 10th in 3-point accuracy. Those opportunities made up a significant portion of his scoring as well. 40.0 percent of his shot attempts came from the perimeter and 24.8 percent of his offense came from spot-ups, where he ranked in the 91.5 percentile with 1.21 points per possession.
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It was a noticeable improvement over the season before, when Harris ranked in the 59.4 percentile with 0.98 points per spot-up possession. That bodes well for his fit in Malone’s system moving forward considering the Nuggets finished seventh in 3-point makes and eighth in 3-point attempts as a team last season. While he struggles to make pull-up 3-pointers consistently — 20.5 percent on 0.8 attempts per game — Harris was as good as Chris Paul, Kyrie Irving, Allen Crabbe, Stephen Curry and J.J. Redick when it came to making catch-and-shoot 3-pointers last season.
Putting such a threat alongside ball-handlers like Emmanual Mudiay, Jamal Murray, Will Barton and Jameer Nelson with Jokic rolling to the basket makes the Nuggets a tough cover in the half court because defenders can’t afford to leave him for a split-second. If they do, he’ll make himself available for an open jump shot.
Making Harris an even greater spot-up threat is his ability to attack closeouts. Over half of his shot attempts came without a dribble last season, but 27.7 percent of his offense came following one or two dribbles. He made 49.3 percent of his 2-point field goals in those situations, although he was much more efficient following one dribble.
Even so, it means defenders can’t run him off the 3-point line when he catches the ball on the perimeter, which separates him from other players at his position. He has a quick first step and he’s an explosive finisher around the basket. Not necessarily in a way that puts shot blockers at risk of getting dunked on whenever he puts the ball on the floor, but Harris is an athletic at the rim and can react to the defense.
Where Harris truly shines as a slasher in the halfcourt is on cuts and handoffs. The former made up 12.2 percent of his offense last season, and he ranked in the 76.9 percentile with 1.39 points per possession. He wasn’t as dominant on the latter — 30.0 percentile with 0.77 points per possession on dribble handoffs — but the combination plays to the strengths of Jokic as a facilitator.
To maximize Jokic’s passing potential in the half court, Malone likes to station him around the elbow where he can survey the court for shooters and cutters. Doing so opens up the paint for his teammates because opposing centers have to respect Jokic’s ability to stretch the floor after he made 55.2 percent of his long 2-pointers and 32.4 percent of his 3-pointers last season. With at least two other shooters on the floor at all times, it paves the way for these sorts of cuts towards the basket:
Harris’ shooting is once again a factor in these situations. If he wasn’t capable of making 42.0 percent of his 3-point attempts, defenders wouldn’t feel the need to chase him around the perimeter as closely as they do.
The same goes for handoffs, which were the source of 14.3 percent of his offense last season. With his defender trailing the play and his teammates spacing the floor out to the 3-point line, it creates driving opportunities for Harris such as this:
None of this even takes into account the gravity Harris possesses as a cutter. With 245 of his 320 baskets being assisted last season, teams have to be aware of Harris whenever he doesn’t have the ball in his hands. Combined with his shooting and the amount of space he usually has to work with around the basket, it can suck multiple defenders into the paint and create openings for others.
Take the following possession as an example. Jokic receives the ball on the perimeter from Nelson while Harris runs off of a down screen from Darrell Arthur. Derrick Rose goes over the screen to prevent Harris from getting an open 3-pointer and Carmelo Anthony drops back to prevent him from getting a direct pass to the basket from Jokic. As a result, Arthur finds himself unguarded a step inside the perimeter for an open jump shot due to the attention Harris draws from two Knicks defenders.
The icing on the cake for Harris is he scored 18.7 percent of his points in transition last season and ranked in the 91.8 percentile with 1.38 points per possession. Since Jokic is the best center in the league at turning defensive rebounds into early scoring opportunities in transition, Harris often finds himself on the receiving end of layups and dunks by leaking out early following missed shots or turnovers.
Those can come in the form of Kevin Love-like outlet passes:
As well as nifty bounce passes most centers have no business making:
Those four play types accounted for 70.0 percent of Harris’ offense last season. It’s therefore no surprise that he was on the receiving end of 22.0 percent of Jokic’s assists on the season based on how the Nuggets big man operates in the half court and open court. Even as Harris becomes more comfortable creating for himself and others, he has all the tools needed to thrive alongside a point center like Jokic.
Those numbers also speak to how important Harris is to Jokic’s success. As an excellent cutter and shooter who sticks to his strengths, Harris doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make an impact on one of the best offensive teams in the league. His usage rating of 18.5 percent last season was equivalent to Marcus Smart, Lance Stephenson, Langston Galloway and Luis Scola, which paved the way for Jokic to lead the Nuggets with a usage rating of 23.4 percent. Knowing how and where he can get his points without taking away opportunities for Jokic to make plays will only help the Nuggets reach their full offensive potential in the years to come.
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The next step for Harris to become a better playmaker and defender. With so few of his baskets being unassisted, being able to consistently create his own shot would add a dimension to Denver’s offense they were missing last season. And although he has the reputation of being a lockdown defender, he still has a long way to go before he’s recognized as a 3-and-D wing he once seemed destined to be.
If Harris improves in one of those areas, he might find himself in the sleeper conversation for All-Stars this season. If he improves in both, he might be a tough omission in what is expected to be a loaded Western Conference backcourt. Either way, Harris will play a pivotal role in the success of the Nuggets this season as they look to make the playoffs for the first time since 2012-13.