The Brooklyn Nets have been serviced by many sharpshooters, but few made an impact in franchise history like Joe Harris. Harris joined the Nets in 2016 after playing two years with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Harris was one of the players Sean Marks took a chance on, and Marks' gamble paid off.
In his first 53 games with Brooklyn during the 2016-17 season, the former Virginia standout averaged 8.2 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting on his three-pointers. This was the foundation that allowed him to grow into one of the most dominant marksmen the borough would ever see.
Harris improved to an average of 10.8 points on a 41.9 three-point shooting clip during 2017-18 before experiencing a breakout in 2018-19. He proceeded to average 13.7 points on red-hot 47.5 deep-range accuracy and won that year's NBA Three-Point Contest. One season later, Harris' role with the Nets changed, but he continued his superb shooting.
Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving joined the Nets during the 2019 offseason, and Harris had one of best seasons in the presence of the two stars. Harris averaged a career-high 14.5 points, shooting 42.4 percent from beyond the arc.
Harris' momentum carried into the 2020-21 season, where he shot with the best accuracy of his career. In addition to averaging 14.1 points per game, Harris knocked down a league-leading 47.5 percent mark on his three-pointers. However, Harris' proceeding playoff showing changed his trajectory in Brooklyn.
A legacy-affecting playoff series
The Nets had one of their promising playoff runs in years when they faced the Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals. The then newly-acquired James Harden was dealing with a hamstring ailment during the series, but Brooklyn's other stars gave them a fighting chance.
Joe Harris was a go-to target for the Nets' playmakers during the series, but he experienced an untimely cold slump. Harris averaged 9.6 points during the matchup and shot a lowly 32.7 percent on deep-range shots.
Harris' cold streak was almost irrelevant, given Kevin Durant's heroics. Durant put up a historic 49-point triple-double in Game 5 of the series. However, Durant's ionic foot-on-the-line shot in Game 7 forced the contest into overtime, where he and the Nets ran out of gas at the end and lost 115-11.
Joe Harris' relatively poor shooting in the Nets-Bucks series was highly criticized, but he kept working hard and played two more season for Brooklyn.
On Aug. 15, 2024, news broke of Harris' decision to retire from the NBA. He had just come off a one-season stint with the Detroit Pistons.
Harris' time in the borough deeply resonates with Nets fans of the late 2010s and early 2020s era, and he will continue to be regarded as one of the best shooters in franchise history.