Orlando Magic Player Evaluations: Maurice Harkless
Final Grade
<p>There is no getting around it, Maurice Harkless’ season was a complete disaster for him. Nothing he could have hoped to accomplish individually went right.</p><div class=. SF. Orlando Magic. MAURICE HARKLESS. F
He did not earn playing time, he fumbled his way through the playing time he got and he deserved the role he ended up with. There is no other way to say this.
I am a Maurice Harkless fan. I see a lot of potential still in this 21-year-old player (he will turn 22 later this month). I think he can still succeed in the NBA. But time is running out. And he has yet to find consistency or cash in on his athletic gifts.
This season should have been a big opportunity. Competition with Aaron Gordon and experience should have boosted his play up. Instead, he never found any comfort.
A new coaching staff might help. It was pretty clear in the fact Willie Green was getting minutes ahead of Harkless the entire season that Harkless had fallen well out of favor with the coaching staff for whatever reason. That needs to be put behind him.
For Harkless, the 2015 season was a forgettable one. But it was also instructive. His place in the NBA is not on firm footing. He has to work hard to disprove the perceptions about him and bring back the player that seemed to have a lot of potential and became a starter for this Magic team for most of two seasons.
That player is still in there and that player can improve. That player did not show up in 2015.
" >
F
There is no getting around it, Maurice Harkless’ season was a complete disaster for him. Nothing he could have hoped to accomplish individually went right.
He did not earn playing time, he fumbled his way through the playing time he got and he deserved the role he ended up with. There is no other way to say this.
I am a Maurice Harkless fan. I see a lot of potential still in this 21-year-old player (he will turn 22 later this month). I think he can still succeed in the NBA. But time is running out. And he has yet to find consistency or cash in on his athletic gifts.
This season should have been a big opportunity. Competition with Aaron Gordon and experience should have boosted his play up. Instead, he never found any comfort.
A new coaching staff might help. It was pretty clear in the fact Willie Green was getting minutes ahead of Harkless the entire season that Harkless had fallen well out of favor with the coaching staff for whatever reason. That needs to be put behind him.
For Harkless, the 2015 season was a forgettable one. But it was also instructive. His place in the NBA is not on firm footing. He has to work hard to disprove the perceptions about him and bring back the player that seemed to have a lot of potential and became a starter for this Magic team for most of two seasons.
That player is still in there and that player can improve. That player did not show up in 2015.