Myles Turner is the big newcomer in town, but not the only one. The Milwaukee Bucks also brought in Gary Harris via free agency, and Orlando Magic Daily senior writer Philip Rossman-Reich offered up a good amount of input regarding what fans should expect from the guard after spending the last four and a half years in the Sunshine State.
"Just solid all around. The Magic trusted his defense a ton. Won't do anything spectacular, though. He is on the back nine of his career, and it is starting to show. Fans were really frustrated with him because he just did not take enough shots (one fan group I am in nicknamed him "Cardio Gary" because he would play 15-20 minutes and take one shot). I think some of that is the Magic's offense and the way it is designed.
But Harris fades into the background a lot. That is good because he does the defensive things you don't notice. But for a team desperate for shooting, they needed him to be a volume shooter and he just is not that anymore. I like Gary a lot. He wasn't what the Magic needed anymore."
Bucks will need Gary Harris on both sides of the ball
If it wasn't obvious already, no one should expect Gary Harris to be a needle-mover for the Bucks. The team brought him in, more than likely, to be depth at the shooting guard spot if Doc Rivers fully buys into the electric tandem of Gary Trent Jr. and AJ Green. In a two-guard room that is filled with youth, it doesn't hurt to have a 30-year-old veteran able to provide some occasional support.
Offensively, if he's taking one shot in 20 minutes, he won't make it. A lack of aggressiveness on the offensive end is why Andre Jackson Jr.'s future in Milwaukee is uncertain. Non-scorers are quickly becoming a thing of the past in today's NBA. If a player is only impactful on one side of the floor, opposing teams will expose that to the fullest.
The good news is that the veteran has always been a reliable outside shooter (36.9 percent in his career), and he will get plenty of open looks playing with Giannis Antetokounmpo, which should fuel some aggressiveness. If he can bury those good looks with consistency, that might be good enough for the guard to stay on the floor for the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Milwaukee Bucks will need more than the three points per game he averaged last season if he does see any prominent minutes whatsoever.
Defensively, Harris still has some fuel left in the tank, as he was a quality defender last year,. The 6-foot-4 guard will not shy away from big names or tough matchups, and he can certainly back it up. He won't be Milwaukee's primary guard defender, but it wouldn't be shocking if they threw him out there for tough matchups at times.
Coming off his least-productive season since his rookie year, the guard, signed to a minimum deal, will be a low-risk reclamation project. Unlike past years, where Milwaukee hunted as many big-name veterans as possible, their new reliance on youth means that Harris will likely take a backseat for the Milwaukee Bucks in the backcourt, serving as critical depth until he hears his name called.
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