Ok, so here are my thoughts from a yesterday and a few pages back re: Harris and Niko.
I like Harris and it would be really awesome to have him. Before the Conley trade, I think throwing a max at him is a no brained because our team was starved for talent and if we didn’t land any, we’d be ****ed (and be looking at a Kevin Love deal, but I digress). That being said, how good is he? I mentioned that I feel he’s a touch overrated here (not an argument that he’s not good, just that he’s getting a bit overhyped — just wait until we saw his flaws). This board also historically hasn’t been so pro-Harris. I’m not saying a lot of people here haven’t liked him, because they have, but a year ago if you were to say he’d be our big catch, people would be a bit underwhelmed. The fact that we’ve focused on him so much has made him more alluring. As a parallel, the Conley deal has been widely embraced by us. However, when the rumors surfaced at the deadline this was not so. Our discussions about him have allowed our hype to pick up (not that this is right or wrong, just speaking matter of factly).
So I don’t know how much of that is going on with Harris. Back when he was in Detroit I remember his name periodically coming up and I never really considered him as our stretch four option because it seemed like he was more of a tweener (poor rebounder) and hadn’t really proved himself as a three point shooter at that point. But he played exceptionally well over his time in LA, was really hitting the three, and was grabbing boards at a good rate. If you were to ask me a year ago who I’d take between him and Niko, it’s Niko all the way. But there’s a decency bias at play. Lots of teams talking about maxing him. Is he a max guy? He may get it, but in reality we know it’s a bit of an overlay with how things are currently.
Regarding Niko, the big issue that’s brought up is the idea that he’s a sieve. Lots of guys end up being labeled such and because it keeps getting repeated, it becomes greatly caricatured and not matching up with reality. The way people talk is as if it is Melo level liability (with lots of guys, not just Niko). On the flip side, Harris isn’t a defender. Our need for Harris as a creator, as mentioned, is lessened. And it’s a very valid question to wonder what percentage of production Niko could provide of Harris but at less than half the price. Niko can space the floor from anywhere. Very quick release. He of big of a defensive difference is there between Harris and Niko? Is Niko’s defensive reputation augmented at all on the backdrop of him being viewed as a big, European stiff?
Still, the Jazz have passed up opportunities to land him. Is he really a guy closing games? Despite discussion over the years of Quin wanting a stretch four, he’s had two of them. Now, Novak and Jonas are both fairly flawed and certainly not in the same league as Niko, but I thought both those guys should have gotten a bit more burn than they did, and Quin seemed to have both in the doghouse. Is Niko up to snuff for Quin? Would he ever close games? I have no idea. If not, I think it really lessens his value to the team. The same goes for Favors. I think it’s hard to argue that someone is going to make such a large impact, or is “so important,” yet they never close games. That goes for Favors. And if that’s the same for Niko, then you may as well spend even half of what you would on Niko for someone else to come off the bench (or at least not close games) who can hit open shots.
