The NBA trade deadline is Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, so teams still have some time to complete whatever offers they have on the table.
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As Mike Scotto first reported, and as several outlets-including Yahoo! and ESPN-have confirmed, Orlando is progressing in talks with the Detroit Pistons regarding a trade which would send Harris to the Motor City in exchange for Brandon Jennings and Ersan Ilyasova.
He’s averaging 13.7 points per game this season to go along with 5.8 rebounds per game. Check back for more details.
“I’m ready to make the playoffs”, Harris told ESPN via text message.
Nonetheless, it’s disheartening to see Orlando make a potential short-term upgrade while losing out on Harris’ long-term potential; it seems unlikely that either Jennings or Ilyasova will figure into the next great Magic team.
Harris will slide right into the starting lineup and the Pistons will pick right up with it and try to get themselves into a playoff spot.
One of the keys will be honing his scoring ability in more efficient ways. Furthermore, for a deeper analytics breakdown, Stephen Shea of basketballanalyticsbook.com called Harris the “most underrated player in the NBA” in a post on May 6 of past year.
Jennings is a free agent after the season, while Ilyasova is only guaranteed $400,000 on his $8.4 million deal for next season.
Harris, 23, is 6-feet-9-inches tall and has averaged almost 33 minutes a game with the Magic this season.
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This is a questionable move for Orlando, who just re-signed Harris this summer to a four-year, $64 million contract. At one time, when Skiles was coaching him in Milwaukee, Jennings was something of a gunner who could put up a lot of points in a hurry.
