NBA Free Agency: Joe Harris offers answers for specific OKC problems

What Joe Harris lacks in defense, he makes up for in shooting. And after playing a year with the Nets, he now knows how and when to be aggressive.

Strengths

Because he was given the ultra green light in Brooklyn, Harris finished with career highs across the board. He averaged 10.8 points per game on 49 percent shooting from the field and 41 percent from behind the arc. His added time on the floor amounted to an efficiency rating of 61.2 and an offensive rating of 104.5.

Those statistics make Harris particularly interesting for OKC due to the lack of scoring off the bench last season. The Thunder was dead last in bench scoring at 25.9 points per game.

Even though Harris isn’t the best at creating his own shot, he’s capable and would open up the floor brilliantly. He would immediately take pressure off any and all members of the OK3 and get more open looks as a result of the threat they bring.

Weaknesses

As Thunder fans learned with previous shooting specialists, they tend to be defensive liabilities. Especially comparing them to the defensive anchors they subbed in for such as Roberson or former Thunder wing defender Thabo Sefalosha. There’s always been give and take with OKC’s typical rotation, and Harris would be no different.

No, Harris isn’t exactly a “3-and-D” player, so it will be up to role players such as Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis to pick up the slack. With that being said, Harris does at least show hustle.

And since defense is one of the Thunder’s strong suits as a team, they should be able to make up for it. Harris finished with a mediocre 108.4 defensive rating which likely wont be increasing at least by a significant amount due to his God given stature and quickness.