Phoenix Suns: Top free agent targets when free agency period begins
7. Joe Harris
At 28 years of age, Brooklyn Nets 3-point marksman Joe Harris has just entered into the prime of his NBA tenure.
He burst onto the league’s national scene with a dominant shooting display during the 2019 3-point contest, eventually riding a 26-point final round showing to a victorious title effort. That performance sent a public notice to the league that his name should be among those regarded as the association’s most feared snipers.
Nonetheless, a pure shooting stroke isn’t something that was bestowed upon Harris overnight.
He’s been taking and making deep bombs ever since his college days and shot over 40 percent from 3-point territory during his four-year stint at the University of Virginia.
2018-19 was by far his best statistical year yet. He led the league in 3-point percentage, posting an incredible 47.4 percentage mark from beyond the arc while attempting just under half the amount of deep-range shots as the league’s leader that year.
The epitome of efficiency, he coupled that impressive number with a 50.0 percent total from the floor as well as an 82.7 mark from the charity stripe.
His 41.2 percent from 3-point land through the ’19-20 stretch shows a slight drop off in his consistency, but any number over 40 in terms of 3-point shooting is exceptional by league standards – and a higher mark than any Sun has been able to eclipse all year. He’s also posted the highest scoring average of his career as well at 13.9 a game.
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Pair that pick-and-pop and corner deadeye ability with a ball-dominant drive-and-kicker like Booker and Harris’ added value could see a substantial increase in a system like the one Phoenix employs. According to NBA.com’s tracking data, Harris ranked ninth in the league in court distance traveled on the offensive side of the ball, behind second-ranked Devin Booker. A combination of the two could prove lethal in wearing down the fatigue-levels of defensive opponents.
Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks has listed Harris as a priority to re-sign once his contract expires at year’s end, and the Nets do own his contract’s bird rights, but Harris’ cell phone line will be chock-full of outside potential suitors chomping at the bit to get ahold of his long-ball spraying ability.
And all indications seem to point to Phoenix being one of them.