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Summary

Harkless is the classic example of three-point percentage not telling the whole story. In the '17-'18 season, Harkless shot 42% from three, which was in the 87th percentile for his positions, according to Cleaning the Glass. However, he did so on a very low number of attempts. Over the last two seasons, Harkless shot a very poor 31% from three, again on a low number of attempts.

 

Due to his unwillingness to take more threes, defenses in the playoffs did not respect Harkless, and were willing to help off of him to swarm Damian LIllard or C.J. McCollum, leading to the Blazers trading him away prior to last season. Harkless had some good moments for the Clippers this season, but they opted to upgrade by trading him for Marcus Morris. At the end of the day, Harkless is still a two-way player that can play either forward position, and that is valuable in today'g game, but his lack of shooting and overall playmaking limit how much he can contribute.

Cap Considerations

Harkless will be an unrestricted free agent with a $16.5 million cap hold and full Bird rights. As his cap hold exceeds the salary he will get in free agency, his cap hold is not really relevant. If the Knicks re-sign Harkless, his cap hold will be replaced by his starting salary, and the Knicks may still have some cap space available depending on his salary and what happens with their other free agents. If Harkless is brought back by the Knicks on a multi-year contract, they could benefit from frontloading his contract, as it could give them additional flexibility in the future.

 

Harkless's starting salary will likely fit within the full $9.3 million Non-Taxpayer Mid-Level Exception, so even teams without cap space could potentially target him.

Potential Teams: Wizards, Hornets, Thunder, Mavericks, Hawks

Predicted Contract: 2-year, $15 million with the Wizards

Actual Contract: 1-year, $3.6 million with the Heat

Harkless got less than I expected, but it's possible he turned down bigger offers in order to play on a title contender in a glamour market.

Last updated: 12/31/2020

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