Retrospective: Where Does Tobias Harris Rank In All-Time Small Forwards?
If Matt Harpring’s game were distilled to one simple ingredient that enabled his success, that word would be “toughness.”
Harpring fought for loose balls, he chased down long rebounds, and with that effort he possessed a nice jumper that induced the Magic to draft him No. 15 overall in 1998.
Harpring played all 50 games in the lockout-shortened rookie season, starting 22 of those contests, while posting eight points and four rebounds per game. He also posted a 103 Offensive rating and a 100 defensive rating for the 1999 Magic.
Much to the dismay of fans, he was traded for a big stiff named Andrew DeClercq the following season as the Magic continued to search for answers at center.
Harpring went on to do big things with the Utah Jazz, posting 17.6 points per game in the 2003 season, and averaging double figures for eight season straight after being traded to Cleveland following his short stay in Orlando.
While it may be hard to wrap the mind around how the Magic gave up on a promising young player like Harpring, each team has its list of guys whose talents were not properly valued in the early junctures of their respective careers. The Magic most certainly could have benefited from his three-point shooting and hustle exhibited during his most productive NBA seasons.
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