CHICAGO — Gary Harris barely had time to imagine himself in a Bulls uniform on draft night back in 2014. No sooner had Harris heard his named called with Chicago’s first-round pick that he learned he would instead begin his career with the Nuggets.
“There was a lot going on draft night,” Harris said on the sidelines of the United Center after the Nuggets’ shootaround Tuesday morning. “It was definitely stressful just not knowing where you’re going to go and having to deal with everything. It was definitely memorable. I wouldn’t change any of it.”
While two of the players involved in a draft swap between the Nuggets and Bulls — Doug McDermott and Jusuf Nurkic — are no longer with teams that traded for them that night, Harris has continued to elevate himself as not only the crown jewel of that deal but also one of the steals of that draft.
The 6-foot-4 third-year guard has been the Nuggets’ best player since the all-star break. Harris averaged 22.3 points in the team’s first three games out of the break, shooting 52 percent from the field and 48 percent from the 3-point line He has increased his 3-point percentage by nearly nine points over his career mark, up to 43 percent overall this season.
“Jameer (Nelson), Jamal (Murray), Will Barton, our bigs, they all do a good job finding me,” Harris said. “It would be a disservice for me to not shoot the shot when it’s open. When you get a good look you’ve got to let it go, no matter whether you’ve hit five in a row or missed 10 in a row. If it’s an open shot you have to take it.”
The aggressiveness from Harris hasn’t been limited to catching and shooting. Just ask Zach Randolph. Harris unleashed one of the Nuggets’ highlight dunks of the season Sunday when he got the ball at the top of the key, accelerated toward the rim with one quick step and threw it down with one hand over the Memphis Grizzlies forward.
“He’s playing very efficiently,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “What I love about him is that he doesn’t just settle for jump shots. He isn’t a one-trick pony. He gets downhill and attacks the defense and tries to finish at the rim.”
Faried out at least a week. Malone said forward Kenneth Faried will miss at least seven to 10 days as he deals with back spasms. Faried did not make the trip to Chicago, instead staying in Denver to receive “constant treatment,” Malone said.
