National Basketball Association

Gary Harris: Improvement Is the Key This Season

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Apr 10, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Utah Jazz guard Alec Burks (10) defends against Denver Nuggets guard Gary Harris (14) in the third quarter at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Nuggets and Gary Harris have been making great strides, but there is still improvement that much be done throughout this upcoming season.

Since the Nuggets are a team with a wide array of youth, they also have several players that are in make-or-break years. While Harris is not particularly one (since he has already shown his incredible skill), he will still need to have a solid season.

Drafted from Michigan State with the 19th overall pick, Gary has turned into a lock down defensive player, but that will only get a player so far, unless you are Thabo Sefolosha.

So, what must Gary do to take his game to the next level offensively?

While I was scrolling through twitter today, I found my answer.

While it is quite a convincing chart, Gary Harris has much more growing to do as a player maker even if he can improve his jump shot. But, improving that will be a solid start in making sure that Harris will get a huge new contract in the future!

Gary Harris' 2015-16 shot chart. He can score from everywhere. Once his 3 gets more consistent, look out. #Nuggets pic.twitter.com/BcuBnquASS

— Joel Rush (@denbutsu) September 1, 2016

Just as Joel says, Gary Harris is held back by his inconsistent shooting. Albeit, he has improved it tremendously. Gary Harris has turned into one of the better two-way players in the league; therefore, his defense certainly is not holding him back.

Here is a chart with Harris’s stats from his two years in the league which will help define my point a bit.

Per Game Table
Season	Age	Tm	Lg	Pos	G	MP	FG	FGA	FG%	3P	3PA	3P%	2P%	FT%	ORB	DRB	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
2014-15	20	DEN	NBA	SG	55	13.1	1.2	3.9	.304	0.4	1.9	.204	.395	.745	0.4	0.8	1.2	0.5	0.7	0.1	0.7	3.4
2015-16	21	DEN	NBA	SG	76	32.1	4.7	10.1	.469	1.4	3.9	.354	.543	.820	0.7	2.2	2.9	1.9	1.3	0.2	1.3	12.3

For a guard, Harris is tremendous from inside the arc, but his problem is his three point shooting. While still a top three point shooter from the Nuggets, Harris had the fourth worst three point percentage on the team of those that averaged over 1 per game.

If he improves this along with being more of a creator on offensive, Gary will continue to cement his value in the mind of every Denver Nuggets fan.

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