On Monday, the LA Clippers agreed to take back Maurice Harkless and a 2023 first round pick from the Jimmy Butler trade. What’re they getting in Harkless?
It’s been a relatively quiet free agency for the LA Clippers, and that could be a good thing or a bad thing. The front office tends to move in silence, so it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise, but the team’s moves have been few and far between. However, they did accomplish two things while they presumably wait for Kawhi Leonard to make his decision.
The first was re-signing point guard Patrick Beverley, which, again, was done in silence.
In the weeks leading up to the beginning of free agency, all the rumors seemed to suggest that Beverley would be signing elsewhere this offseason, and that he may not wait for the Clippers if they’re invested in the Leonard race for too long. There was plenty of reason to believe that, too, since Beverley was expected to be one of the hottest point guards on the market outside of Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker.
And then the Clippers struck. In the wee hours of the night on opening day, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski announced that Beverley would be re-signing with the Clippers on a three-year deal worth $40 million.
July 1 was the same, with no rumors or leaks circulating about how the Clippers planned to court Leonard — just more silence. That was, until, Wojnarowski announced that LA had become the fourth team involved in the deal that would send Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat.
In exchange for taking back salary, the Clippers earned themselves a future first round pick from the Heat (expected to be a 2023 lottery-protected selection) and forward Maurice Harkless, a 26-year-old, lengthy wing.
Harkless, a seven-year veteran, has spent the last four seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers. He’s not particularly effective from three-point range — a career 32.3 percent shooter from deep — but he does excel in the areas that best fit the Clippers’ identity: Versatile defense and a strong passion for winning.
He’s a tone-setter on the defensive side of the floor, much like his new teammate Patrick Beverley. He can defend both forward positions, and probably serve as a small-ball center in certain situations.
He’s also unafraid of big moments, or taking on big assignments, which is something he proved in Portland’s latest postseason run.
Harkless played a crucial role in Portland’s first round matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder, taking on an MVP finalist and dominant scorer in Paul George. And while it’s true that George was dealing with shoulder issues during OKC’s playoff series, Harkless still made things look very difficult for him.
In the first four games of the series, George connected on a mere 37 percent of his attempts from the floor, and only 30.8 percent of his looks from three-point range — both significant decreases from his career percentages. Obviously, Harkless was unable to stop him entirely, but he played a similar role to the one Beverley played against Kevin Durant in the Clippers’ own first round series.
A majority of the points George scored in those first four games came at the free throw line, rather than from field goals. That was especially the case in Game 3, when he went 3-of-16 from the floor and 14-of-17 from the stripe, scoring 22 points in 41 minutes of action.
Admittedly, Harkless doesn’t offer much on the offensive end when his three-point shot isn’t falling, so that may be something he needs to work on for him to stay up in the primary rotations. But he’s still a crafty scorer, and he takes smart shots — his looks came almost exclusively in the paint or from beyond the arc this past season.
He’s a perfect fit for the LA Clippers, meshing right in with their defensive mentality and versatile style. And if you’re interested in seeing what else he can bring to the table, check out high highlight video from the 2018-2019 season:
If the LA Clippers end up missing out on Kawhi Leonard this summer, Harkless could be a candidate to slip into the team’s starting rotation. Otherwise, he would come off the bench — presumably with the second unit — and start in Leonard’s place in load management situations.