Orlando Magic would still be wise to retain Maurice Harkless

Maurice Harkless has yet to establish his niche in the NBA, but the return on his value does not make dealing him worth it.

There are schools of thought regarding the trading of young talents who have not panned out.

One line of reasoning is the prospect is seen to his end, all avenues of development are exhausted and his initial contract expires.

Another line is that he is dealt before his trade value “bottoms out,” so that some assets can be obtained.

And lastly, there is trying to play the guy to boost his stock, then dealing him before seeing the process through.

The Magic should exercise the first of these three options with Harkless because he has shown enough in stretches to be the type of player Orlando wants him to be. Orlando needs to explore every option and role within its schemes to see if Harkless can succeed.

The results from Harkless have hardly been so inspired in his three-year career though.

He still makes rookie mistakes, and he has been in the league three full seasons. Harkless still appears to be unsettled within the offense, which is largely a product of having developed no role nor comfort. Most of his on-court struggles can be attributed to just not having received enough opportunity, but the question then becomes “Why?”

That is a lot more difficult to pinpoint.

Next: Never seeing the court

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?

How do you unleash Moe Harkless?

Try playing Harkless more at the 1-spot on defense on a regular basis. Isolate him on the wing and clear it out for him to put his head down and take it to the basket. Run him off a screen for a long-range two-pointer. Do things that feature his best attributes — and see if he can do them.

If he cannot, then he may be looking at a quick ticket out of the NBA.

He has had adequate chances, and there is no guarantee another team will give him more than what he received in Orlando.

How often has Harkless just blended into the background, content to sometimes wander into a player or launch a corner three?

The absolute best facet of his game is an ability to make plays defensively. And he had his best game against Dallas on March 18 when he played 36 minutes in that start, amassing 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting, while coming up with six boards and four steals.

The Magic lost by five, but Harkless shined and received abundant accolades.

But Harkless’ only other great performance came on March 8 against Boston when he shot 6-of-11 for 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block.

Can he play like that more consistently? Maybe.

What differed on those nights was that he saw the full extent of starter’s minutes, unlike his other two starts which produced mediocre results (Games 38 and 39).

Next: When you give Moe a chance

When you give Moe a chance

Let’s look at this logically:

Harkless saw 26 minutes or more in just four games this season. In those games, Harkless posted an average of 8.2 points (on 38 percent shooting) with 4.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks/steals per game.

It is not outstanding, but the defensive numbers are eyebrow-raising.

Harkless’ biggest weakness is that he does not finish otherwise great offensive plays. He shoots 59 percent at the rim — but just 36.8 percent from 3-10 feet, and an intolerable 17.9 percent on threes this year (though he was 36.8 percent with a much bigger sample size in 2014).

By all accounts, he saw a reduction in minutes, role and quality time last season — and that will have to change with a new coach. Each Magic player will have an opportunity with an entire new staff, and Harkless will have a fresh start to impress them.

What we saw in the game against Boston — and also against Dallas — is he can be an elite defender at three positions, with the ability to cover both a team’s point guard or either wing spot.

He even saw time covering Damian Lillard in the Magic’s two games against the Trail Blazers this year, and he did an exceptional job of frustrating him.

Harkless is rangy and a great athlete, but he has not figured out how to finish through contact and in fact has never attempted more than two free throws per game in any of his first three seasons.

All of those talents are worth more than a stab in the dark, which is the best the Magic will be offered at this point if obtaining a late-second round pick. No early second rounders will be obtained for him, but in the latter half of the second round there may be a team willing to do a pick/cash deal for Harkless.

Soaring Down South

Orlando should by no means do such a deal.

Harkless may not have developed extensively in three seasons, but he has one last shot and still does those same things he did three years ago when expectations were becoming much higher.

The bar is set low for Harkless at this point — and given his leaping ability, there is a good chance he jumps well over it, if given the chance.

Next: Maurice Harkless Player Evaluation