The growing discomfort of Maurice Harkless
Maurice Harkless entered this year believing he would contribute. The season has fallen apart for him and Harkless finds himself completely on the outside.
Friday night set off something of a Twitter firestorm.
Jacque Vaughn partially set it off when he announced before the tip off that Maurice Harkless would be a healthy scratch. Things got crazier when Harkless was not with the team on the bench for a home game. The official word was that he was receiving treatment.
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In any case, Harkless’ season has not gone according to plan. He has been played very little — 15.7 minutes per game in just 17 appearances — and he has struggled in those games with a career-worst 8.1 points per 36 minutes and 43.9 percent shooting.
It is not those tangible stats that has Harkless on the bench, according to Jacque Vaughn. It is his defense. The Magic have a similar defensive rating with Harkless on the floor as his first three years, but the public does not see him in practice and his stints in games so far this year have been too short to draw any rational conclusions.
The seemingly direct message from Vaughn when the media asked why Harkless was being deactivated was that he needed to increase his defensive intensity and show more on that end of the floor.
“Defensively, that is the premium for me and for our team,” Vaughn said. “It is to be able to guard and take pride in guarding and have that as a priority when you step on the floor.
“I have sat down with each individual and explained the roles and how their roles impact our team. Not everyone can score the basketball. Not everyone will have equal shots on this team. That’s just a part of it. We need guys who are dedicated to be able to do the little things that help us win whether that is running the floor unselfishly and I might not receive the basketball, whether that is boxing out because I am big and I can help us rebound the basketball or whether that is taking pride in having defense as a premium in my life. All those things I have talked about.”
As cryptic as that might sound, it would appear Harkless has not reached his defensive potential and the coaching staff does not trust him defensively to put him on the floor.
This is obviously not how this season was supposed to go for Harkless. Like for any young player, this season figured to be a big one as the Magic tried to figure out which of these young assets the team would move forward with. Harkless and fellow third-year player Andrew Nicholson would both be eligible for extensions this summer. Both have had their team options picked up but neither is likely to get it. Especially now that both are out of the rotation.
Harkless though had a legitimate chance. He started 59 of 76 games as a rookie and 41 of 80 games as a sophomore last season.
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