Post by Rog on Jan 16, 2017 0:36:31 GMT
The 61st nominee of the NBN Hall of Fame, Devin Harris, was a prime time point guard early in the league but as the talent level rose around the league Harris stats and abilities seemingly fell by the wayside, whether due to the rise in talent level or his own regression. Did he do enough to be enshrined among the elite or was he just not good enough? Lets take a look.
Career Stats
31.7 MPG, 17.3 PPG, 6.9 APG, 2.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG, 0.1 BPG, and 2.2 TOPG on 45% from the field, 84.3% from the line, and 38.8% from three
Best Season
25.8 PPG, 10.1 APG, 3.5 RPG, 1.7 SPG, 0.1 BPG, and 2.8 TOPG on 45.4% from the field, 86.9% from the line, and 38.6% from three
Career Highs
Points: 49
Rebounds: 11
Assists: 20
Steals: 9
Blocks: 2
Achievements
Championships: 0
Player of the Game: 125
Player of the Week: 3
Player of the Month: 0
Double Doubles: 336
Triple Doubles: 1
Awards
2003 - All-Rookie Second Team
2004 - All-Star Rookie Game Participant
Argument for Induction
- Harris was a pretty damn good scorer for about the first 12 seasons of his career, averaging around 21 points a game. Only 4 of those seasons he averaged under 20 points, and those were all 17+ a game. He even shot pretty well for his career, with a career line of 45/84.3/38.8. For twelve seasons Harris gave you 20 or more points rarely dipping below that number. For a point guard, early in this league you really can't ask for anything more.
- Harris was also a really good passer, for 9 straight seasons he averaged over 8.5 assists per game and rarely dropped below 9, even hitting the magic number of 10 at times. He also did it without really turning the ball over. Anything under 3 for a point guard is manageable and Harris only did over 3 one year. Again, for a point guard early in the league, doing 20 and 9.5 is something you could count on and thats something that wasn't easy to find.
- Best of all, Harris carried and A or A- defensive rating for his entire prime, and averaged near 2 steals for the entire first 12 seasons of his career. Pretty good.
- Its a hard case to make because of how bad he fell off after those first really good 12 seasons, which killed his career averages. But seriously there isn't many point guards who you could guarantee you'd get 20 points, 9 assists, near 2 steals on 45/85/38 if you just started him. Sure he wasn't a superstar, but he was a steady, driving force for some decent teams and he deserves your consideration.
Argument Against Induction
- Can we talk the obvious? His career stats are awful for a Hall of Fame candidate. Sure he had a good first 12 years of his career, but he ended up playing for 17 and was really not that great his last five despite some decent playing time. Just don't see how you are a Hall of Famer if you averaged 17 points and 7 assists if those are your best cases.
- Really bad rebounder, which isn't a huge deal for a point guard but Devin Harris was extra bad that made him a bit of a issue for his team, he only averaged 2.7 a game for his career and even with his diminished late career swan, he only was just over 3 for the majority of his career.
- Overall, its an impossible case to make, not just a hard one. No awards, at all, average statistics, sure he was a good player early in the season but its seriously arguable that he took advantage of a weaker talent base and wasn't actually all that great. Plus with no titles, he just doesn't have anything to hang his hat on.
Vote carefully, and remember to throw out arguments regardless of which side you're on. This should be a discussion that eventually gets the league to the proper decision on him. Your vote can also be retracted after it's been cast if you feel like switching to the other side based on the arguments that have been made. To be inducted, a player needs 70% and to be considered in a later class they need 50%. Vote carefully!
***BONUS - Don't forget that everyone who votes gets $25 and the person that makes the best argument or contributes to the discussion the best will be awarded an extra $25**
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