Garry Harris’ 11th NBA season was far from kind and could have very well been his last. In his fourth full season with the Orlando Magic, a nagging left hamstring strain sidelined him for two separate 13-game spans – playing in just five of a possible 31 games from late November to late January.
That injury, as well as a looming youth movement, didn’t isolate Harris from the rotation altogether, however. He appeared in 48 games, starting in just three – the lowest mark since his rookie year – and was often the third or fourth man off Jamahl Mosley’s bench.
A substandard season was only made worse for Harris, as it was coupled with a shared feeling of frustration from the Magic faithful. After two consecutive postseason appearances that saw Harris pour in a total of 32 points over 11 appearances, fans have reached a breaking point. They want him gone.
It is time to let Gary Harris walk in free agency
How did this relationship become so strained? Why do fans share a collective sigh in disdain when Harris’ number is called? What did the Magic see that we couldn’t?
We must revisit the 2021 trade deadline deal that landed him in Orlando when the Magic finally pulled the trigger on a move that sent stalling star and fan favorite Aaron Gordon to the Denver Nuggets. Alongside tank commander Gary Clark, the return for Gordon included Harris, a project in rookie guard RJ Hampton, and Denver’s top-five protected first-round pick in 2025. The Magic were looking at another rebuild, while the Nuggets opened their window of contention.
Each asset that the Magic received in that deal offered something different and interesting. Hampton was a first-round pick who quickly took advantage of his upgraded role as the team’s sixth man. The future first-round pick was a bet on the Nuggets’ future success – which paid off handsomely. And Harris was entering what should have been the prime of his professional career at 26 years old, just two-and-a-half years removed from his 17-point per game season.
Since his first full season in 2022, we’ve seen Harris take a step back in terms of production on an annual basis. Each year, Harris’ scoring dips—2.7 points per season, like clockwork. But his minutes-per-game average didn’t take a dive until this year. Harris steadily played 24-28 minutes per contest in his first three full seasons from 2022 to 2024, a near 10-minute difference versus his 14-minute per game season in 2025.
For Magic fans, that number was still too high.
Harris regularly played in Mosley’s late-game rotation this season, appearing in 29 games that saw him receive fourth-quarter playing time. In those minutes, Harris struggled mightily as a scorer. While playing just north of four fourth-quarter minutes per game, he only managed to post 0.2 points per game on an abysmal 13.3 percent from the field and 7.7 percent on his 3-point attempts. The stats couldn’t justify his playing time, so what encouraged Mosley to keep him in these situations?
A long-standing defensive reputation. Harris was always touted for his abilities as a 3-and-D wing, even though he boasted a league-average 3-point clip – at a relatively low volume – for the majority of his career. His ability to disrupt opposing offenses has been a key part of his game since his early days with the Nuggets. He has consistently drawn praised for his quick hands, footwork, and tenacity, which allow him to generate turnovers and contest shots effectively.
Harris' once-explosive athleticism faded, but his minutes stayed. And that’s the problem. Aside from a handful of individual outliers that saw Harris make the right read on defense and spark some transition opportunities, there simply wasn’t enough of a case made this season to bring him back this summer.
Unfortunately, that’s what we all thought a year ago.
His $7.5 million annual price tag seemed high when he was brought back in free agency on a two-year, $14.0 million deal, but a club option in his second year of that contract made Orlando’s intentions clear. He was an insurance signing for a team that needed veteran leadership. All signs likely point towards the Magic declining that option, subsequently making him an unrestricted free agent.
The ‘hate’ for Harris borders on the unjust. From fans’ perspectives, Harris takes playing time away from a player like Jett Howard, who’s yet to carve out a consistent role on a Magic team in desperate need of consistency from deep. He takes crunch-time minutes from players like Anthony Black and Tristan da Silva, who would certainly have benefitted from being thrown into the fire during the regular season.
Luckily, for those fans, they probably won’t need to worry about Harris eating up minutes for much longer. The market for Harris will be dry in free agency, but he could be a cheap option for another young team in need of wing depth, like New Orleans or Portland.
It’s not an ideal exit for Gary ‘Gary Harris’ Harris, as fans have come to acknowledge him, who’s voiced his pleasure with the Magic organization in the past.
“It’s been great to be a part of what we’ve been building here,” said Harris during his end-of-season exit interview. “But you know how the league is, there’s a lot of uncertainty. You never know what’s going to happen.”
His time in Orlando may be over, but somewhere, there’s a team looking for a veteran presence, a locker-room leader, and just maybe, one last shot at saving his career.