Orlando Magic would still be wise to retain Maurice Harkless

Harkless rarely sees the court

The Magic were a 25-win team that Harkless scarcely saw the court for. When he did, we would see the flashes defensively that caused him to be selected in the first round (No. 15 overall) of the 2012 NBA Draft.

He even showed an ability to become a suffocating defender in switching on to point guards — or as the primary defender. His long arms cover passing lanes and are sneaky in pick and rolls.

Earlier in the season, I wrote a historical comparison rendering Harkless as a young Stacey Augmon.

That has turned out to be a good laugh at this point, as Harkless has had ample time to develop into the talent he has only infrequently appeared as.

He is a slasher who cannot finish nor get to the line, while Augmon averaged nearly 15 points per game at his best, a level I wrote “is well within Harkless’ reach just based on talent alone.”

I take that back now a season later: Harkless has athletic potential to do so, but not the refined talent to be that consistent.

And yet, despite this downside, he is still worth keeping aboard until the very last avenues have been exhausted. Doug Collins took plenty of time to praise Harkless (and himself in a sense, since he was responsible for his drafting before Philadelphia traded him to Orlando) as he played well before a nationally televised audience.

Next: How do you unleash Moe Harkless?