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2024 Free Agents - Joe Harris

Summary
After becoming a starting-level player around the turn of the decade, Harris has had a down couple seasons. He missed most of the '21-'22 season with injury, playing in only 14 games. Harris then only played about 20 minutes of non-garbage time per game in '22-'23, according to Cleaning the Glass, which was his lowest since becoming a regular rotational player in '16-'17. He was traded to Detroit in a salary dump, and barely played for the Pistons before being waived mid-way through the season.

Offensively, Harris provides most of his value as a 3-point shooter. He's a career 44% 3-point shooter, and has even shot 47% or higher in three out of the past five seasons. He's not just a spot-up threat, as he can hits shots on the move coming off screens. He has the pump-fake and side dribble 3 in his arsenal as well. He can attack hard closeouts to get in the lane and make plays, but that has become less of a part of his game in recent seasons, as the percentage of his overall attempts that are 3-pointers have gone from about 50% several years ago to around 75% in recent seasons. 

Defensively, Harris was solid in his prime as he had decent size and worked hard on that end. He wasn't a good defender but wasn't a liability either. However, due to aging and injuries, he has regressed on that end and could be someone that gets targeted in the playoffs. He has consistently put up really low steal and block rates for his career. 

At nearly 33 years old as a free agent in 2024, teams will likely be worried about how well he can hold up aging into his mid-30s, and may not be willing to give him a long-term contract. He has already showed some regression due to age and injuries, and is coming off a lost year, so there are certainly questions about his overall NBA viability.

 
Cap Considerations

Harris was waived by the Pistons mid-way through the season, and has yet to sign with another NBA team.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also likely that he only has offers for the minimum, and may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Potential Teams: Celtics, Lakers, Rockets, Magic, Knicks

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $3.3 million (non-guaranteed) with the Celtics

Actual Contract: Retire

Harris ended up retiring, ending a successful career. After starting his a career as a fringe NBA player, Harris became an elite shooter for a few years, and signed one fairly big contract.

Last updated: 8/15/2024

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