Joe Harris Injury: Why Nets Will Miss Shooting Athlete, Who Will Take 4-8 Weeks Off After Ankle Surgery

Joe Harris will have left ankle arthroscopy on Monday, brooklyn network Coach Steve Nash told reporters. Harris will be out of the squad for the next four to eight weeks, Representative Mark Bartelstein told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. Nash says the surgery will remove a “small bone beads” it got stuck in Harris’s ankle.

The Nets have been without Harris for the past two weeks, and they have lost 5-2 in that span, with losses at home to Golden Empire Warriors and Phoenix Suns, who has two best records in NBA. There’s no shame in losing to those teams, even for a Brooklyn team with title aspirations, but the way the Nets lost speaks volumes.

After the loss to Golden State, Nash said that the Nets had become “too stagnant” in the face of the triangle-and-2 (against Kevin Durant and James Harden) and box-and-1 (against Durant). After losing to Phoenix, Nash said that they didn’t move the ball enough or take advantage of the defense to pack the paint. Without Harris – one of the most accurate 3-pointers in NBA history – midfield, it would be much less risky to play Brooklyn and fill up with its stars.

However, the value of Harris has always been beyond the deadlocked sights. He outlived everyone since Kenny Atkinson because he’s the type of player who can foul fast. Especially for the elite defensive teams, the Nets miss his movement off the ball, his refinement and his cut. He can also attack from close range and, aside from Durant, Brooklyn doesn’t have a single other player on the roster that delivers instant shot, caliber and off-ball defense.

Until Harris returns, Nash will have to continue to tweak his swing, balancing shoot and defense as he sees fit. The Nets made a game against the Sun by going small, switching from 1 to 5, and living with extra distance for half the way. If there were Harris, they might have ended the game with one of these DeAndre ‘Bembry and James Johnson on the floor, instead of both.

The problems that Kyrie Irving’s The absence that has created – mainly the increased gameplay workload for Durant and Harden, and a worse offensive environment in which they have to perform those plays – is exacerbated in Harris’s absence. However, things will be much worse, if the front office fails to sign Patty Mills, who leads the league by 3 percentage points (.500), and like Harris, charges with his moves and basketball intelligence.

Mills have started the last six games, so Harris’ surgery is a blow to his sixth Man of the Year nomination. This is also an opportunity for new rookies Cameron Thomas to earn a consistent role in the rotation. Thomas, the 27th pick in this year’s draft, has scored double-digit minutes in the last three Nets games.