Joe Harris continues to give the Brooklyn Nets quality minutes

As the season marches on small forward, Joe Harris has made a recent impact off the Brooklyn Nets bench regardless of injuries to key personnel.

The Brooklyn Nets have found plenty of hidden gems off the bench this season being forced to play big minutes. Joe Harris is the latest player to step up in the wake of injuries and take advantage of opportunity.

The Chelan, Washington native was originally a 2014 NBA Draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers. As the 33rd pick in the draft, Harris was expected to receive considerable playing time for a then young Cavaliers team, but his development was interrupted as LeBron James decided to return. This, plus the addition of Kevin Love, eventually led to Harris being sent to the team’s developmental squad in order to receive playing time.

After being traded in the offseason to the Orlando Magic, he was immediately waived and picked up by the Nets at the start of the 2016-17 season. His first season in Brooklyn was cut short due to injury, but Harris has found his strideso far in 2017-18, averaging 10.1 points in 24 minutes per game.

The 26-year-old poured in 14 points in the Nets’ latest defeat at home against the Sacramento Kings. He has shown flashes of greatness from the 3-point line this season and is currently averaging two makes per game. In a recent interview, Harris talked about the additional playing time and comparisons to Kyle Korver.

"“Obviously, I’ve played more here recently with guys out, and that gives you more of an opportunity. Plus I think it brings out a more aggressive side of you because we’ve been a bit limited. In order for us to succeed and do well, I’ve had to be more aggressive and produce a little more.“Obviously, I’m still trying to get to that level, and I’m definitely not anywhere close to it yet, But that’s the goal for sure to try and get to the caliber of somebody like a Korver, shoot it the percentage he shoots it at consistently and just being solid all the way around.”"

Harris, along with teammate Jarrett Allen, participated in the NYPD Brooklyn North’s second annual holiday ride. The event focused on donating holiday gifts and exciting performances to children in the community. Harris spoke to the media during the event, discussing the importance of the team’s involvement.

"“[It’s an] opportunity for us to help give back to the community in the giving time of the year,” Harris said. “It’s been awesome, everybody is extremely excited. It really is the spirit of Christmas … it’s really nice to see everyone getting into the spirit of the holidays.”"

The evolution of Joe Harris is taking place in front of our eyes as he continues to make his ascent from a reserve to quality rotational player. The Nets are already relying on young talent such as Spencer Dinwiddie and Caris LeVert to raise their game to another level in order to keep the team competitive. Harris adds another key component with his sweet touch from the outside and at 6’6” and 219 pounds, has the ability to muscle up with bigger guards or forwards.

Next: 2017-18 Week 10 NBA Power Rankings

The Nets are currently sitting at 11-19 with plenty of work to do before they can even dream of a postseason appearance. It will continue to take a total team effort to climb that hill, but at least the team is learning more about each other.