Joe Harris Never Seriously Considered Sitting Out

The already depleted Nets would have been in even bigger trouble heading to Orlando if forward and impending free agent Joe Harris had decided to sit out the remainder of the season. Fortunately for Brooklyn, Harris never seriously considered that option, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“It’s obviously stuff that you have to think about and discuss. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t like it was a difficult decision for me,” Harris said in a Zoom call with the media. “I’m healthy. I’m going to play and finish out the season.”

Despite tumbling revenue around the league due to the coronavirus pandemic, Harris is expected to get a healthy raise. He is on the back end of a two-year, $16MM deal.

Harris is averaging a career-high 13.9 PPM, 4.3 RPG and 2.1 APG this season while shooting 41.2% from long range. He suffered a significant ankle sprain in Brooklyn’s last game before play was halted, so his declaration of good health is significant.

“It’s obviously a different circumstance given everything that’s going on and the time off that we’ve had,” Harris said. “But the way that I look at it is like, ‘All right, we have eight games left. This is the equivalent of Game 74 in the regular season.’ I wouldn’t take the last eight games off of the season just to get ready for free agency.”

A comparable player heading to free agency, the Wizards’ Davis Bertans, opted to sit out the remainder of the season. Bertans has a history of ACL injuries.

The Nets will be without injured stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in Orlando. DeAndre Jordan won’t play after testing positive for COVID-19 while guard Spencer Dinwiddie, who is also recovering from the virus, is undecided about playing.  Nicolas Claxton is also injured, while Wilson Chandler has decided to sit out for family reasons.

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