Portland Trail Blazers

Portland, Stotts extremely high on Moe Harkless' potential

Published Oct. 6, 2015 12:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

Portland Trail Blazers wing Moe Harkless didn't have a great season last year. He fell out of Orlando's rotation and struggled to produce in limited minutes. There was no role and zero expectations.

It's very early, but since coming to Portland he looks like a completely new player, and head coach Terry Stotts wants to explore the areas of Harkless' game that developed cobwebs in Orlando. Here's more, courtesy of The Columbian:

The Trail Blazers gave up nothing to acquire Harkless over the summer, and he's just one of several youngsters on their rebuilding roster that could become valuable commodities this season.

Harkless scored 14 points on only six shots in Portland's preseason opener, and they clearly think the best is yet to come.

It’s fair to say Stotts’ vision of him handling the ball is a far cry from what he was doing in Orlando. Stotts has empowered players with little playmaking experience at the NBA level before, Batum again is a player that comes to mind. “When you have his kind of talent you don’t want to hold back,” Stotts said. “You want to see what he can do.” Stotts wants Harkless to play positions 2-through-4, run pick-and-rolls and shoot 3-pointers created by Lillard and CJ McCollum.