Denver Nuggets need more from Gary Harris

The Denver Nuggets are the second-ranked team in the Western Conference, but they won’t reach their ceiling without getting more from Gary Harris.

The Denver Nuggets are led by the talents of center Nikola Jokic. While they’ve had a good year from their bench and some of the starters, they’ve been underwhelmed by the numbers put up by wing Gary Harris. This has clearly been the worst season of his career since his rookie year. 3-and-D wings are so important in the modern NBA, and the slide Harris’ numbers have taken lowers their overall ceiling as a team.

Harris has regressed a significant amount from the season he put up two years ago, when he shot 50.2 percent from the floor and 42 percent from 3-point range. He’s now shooting just 42.2 percent from the floor and 34.9 percent from 3-point range. The Nuggets rely on him to be an effective slasher and shooter from downtown, but he hasn’t been that for them this season, unfortunately.

When the playoffs get started, they’re going to need more from him if they hope to make any noise. The team just doesn’t have enough shooting outside of him to make up for his continued struggles, especially on the wings. Their rotation is shrinking when the playoffs start, and they are going to have even fewer players that can space the floor.

The Nuggets extended Harris after his best season because they saw the path he was one. He still has the opportunity to get there, and the hope is that he was being held back by injuries this past season. Throughout the year, he was hampered by groin, hip, hamstring and ankle issues. They’ll really be hoping that he doesn’t miss any serious time moving forward with his career, because he’s too important to how they play basketball on both ends.

Harris is the perfect example of a player that works perfectly within his system when he’s playing well, and his struggles have hurt the system overall. The team is just 6-4 over its last 10 games, and over that same stretch, Harris is shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor. That mark is inflated by his 45 percent mark from 3-point range, which shows how much he has struggled inside the 3-point line.

Jokic needs players around him that can shoot 3-pointer and space the floor, but can also cut to the rim when he puts a pass on them. Harris had been that guy up until this year, and Denver needs him to shake off the rust or funk or lingering effects of the injuries that are holding him back. The better he plays, the higher Denver’s ceiling, because he is one of the key cogs that keeps them flowing at their best.

Players like Torrey Craig and Malik Beasley have played well on the wings in his stead, but the team needs Harris to play like the starter he is to close games out in the playoffs when opponents go small. He will be asked to carry a heavy load when the playoffs start, and it will be his first time being there. If he can’t get his act together before then and become the member of the Big 3 he was always meant to be, the Nuggets are going to have a terribly tough time in the postseason.