Devin Harris

[Angrysportsfan]

It seems like a lot you dislike Devin Harris and don't think he's the point guard of the future for this team. Why?

[vincecarter4pres]

If we lucked out and got Kyrie Irving, I think I still keep Devin as long as he could keep his ego in check and here's why.

I don't think Devin's a starter.

I think he needs to be a 32mpg 6xth man combo guard with the straight up green light to be ultra aggressive while with the second unit and play within the flow of the game when out there with the starters.

He's not a true point guard, he's a combo guard who leans heavily towards point guard tendencies.
As a starter, especially on a young team devoid of talent in general and especially at the wings and on a team lacking a true playmaker, his style is not conducive to winning, making other players better, or even developing or at least allowing young players to grow on their own and flourish.

He becomes almost a ball stopper, no matter what his assist numbers say at times.

As is, he's the completely wrong fit for this team.

He would be deadly for a team like Dallas, Boston, Orlando, LAL, etc. and would even fit in great with a Portland, New York or Chicago.

Again, if this team lucked out with Irving and he was a day one starter as he should be, made a subsequent move for a wing scorer like a Granger and kept Brook and Favors, that is a team that should make the playoffs with at least 41 wins and if Devin could check his ego and embrace the above role, he would be perfect for this team.

[Netaman]

Short answer - he doesn't make anyone else better - and that is the most important part of a PG's job.

He's a streaky scorer and a good defender. He's also pretty clutch and a solid character player. Just not a difference maker.

[NyCeEvO]

VC4P, I don't think Devin would check his ego. It's obvious that he would need to go if that came to pass. The general perception around the league is that he is a good player. That's not our perception, the league's. Remember when LBJ cited Harris and Lopez as two players that could be on different teams if the league were contracted? People know about him. Therefore, we sell high strictly because of the perception that he's good and package him with one of 1st rounders for a starting caliber SG via trade or move up in the draft to select a young SG.

In this case, 4/5 players on our starting lineup would be 24 or younger starting next season. Even with a hard cap, the ability to have young talent would benefit us tremendously especially with the league harping on getting players to stay on the same team.

[Pfinferno]

Wtf is wrong with you people? Ego? First off, unless you know harris personally you can't say anything about his ego. Second off, I never see him going around acting like he's the best player in the world. I always see him congratulating his teammates and giving them pats on the back when they do something good. He went from a contender to one of the worst teams in the league, and he's been completely professional about it. God you people are like glenn beck supporters. And you people keep saying you want a veteran? FOR THE PAST 2 MONTHS MOST OF YOU HAVE BEEN SAYING "WE DON'T WANT TO TRADE FOR ANYONE THAT'S "OLD". All veterans are what you guys consider "old". You guys just keep changing your arguments on everything to make yourself look correct all the time, even though you usually never are. GG.

[vincecarter4pres]

Wtf is wrong with you people? Ego? First off, unless you know harris personally you can't say anything about his ego. Second off, I never see him going around acting like he's the best player in the world. I always see him congratulating his teammates and giving them pats on the back when they do something good. He went from a contender to one of the worst teams in the league, and he's been completely professional about it. God you people are like glenn beck supporters. And you people keep saying you want a veteran? FOR THE PAST 2 MONTHS MOST OF YOU HAVE BEEN SAYING "WE DON'T WANT TO TRADE FOR ANYONE THAT'S "OLD". All veterans are what you guys consider "old". You guys just keep changing your arguments on everything to make yourself look correct all the time, even though you usually never are. GG.

Devin, is that you?

Breath easy dude!

I was alluding to ego in general, not necessarily that Devin personally has a big one, he seems pretty humble, but I don't know that any professional athlete with his skill level is going to take kindly to being put into a 6xth man role by a 20 year old rookie after all the losing and criticism he has endured here.

[vincecarter4pres]

The general perception around the league is that he is a good player. That's not our perception, the league's.

I think Devin is a very good player, but he's in the wrong situation and he was overrated big time by us and others after he was overused one season and exploded.

I don't think Devin is a real point guard though.

Sure, I've blown up on him this season, but his play was just awful for most of the season, but again, in retrospect it's easy to see why, the trade rumors obviously effected him deeply, which isn't hard to understand after Avery back stabbed him like the piece of garbage he is.

I said my piece in the post above though, that is how I feel Devin would be his best.

[Rockice_8]

VC4P I would love to have Devin come off the bench for us. Could you imagine what that would do for our bench. WIth him Morrow, James, and Hump. We would actually have a good bench then.

I think he would dominate in the 6th role position let him get back to doing what he does best attacking the basket against lesser opponents. I would love for that to happen but nothing ever plays out like we want.

[SteveNets15]

Why does he have to come off the bench to be good?If we bring in more talent and he can be the third option, he'd be great in the starting lineup.Devin was an allstar when VC was here because he didn't have to be the #1 option like the past season and a half.I don't think we should trade him unless we're getting a good replacement and no i'm not talking about Andre Miller,I'd rather just keep Devin.

[vincecarter4pres]

Devin is not a starting NBA point guard.

He is a starting quality player though.

But, he is not a shooting guard either and not really even directly due to his size, more so because his outside shot is ****.

His style is better for a second unit anyway you look at it, even in a stacked lineup I wouldn't especially want him as my starter if you have any aspirations for deep post season success.

He would be a perennial 6xth man of the year candidate, there's nothing shameful about coming off the bench when you're playing 30 something minutes a game and are an exceptionally important cog on a tough playoff team.

[SteveNets15]

Devin is a starting point guard in the NBA.Farmar and Vujacic are bench players not Devin.Unless we win the lottery or can sign CP3/Deron,then i'm fine with keeping Harris.Avery just needs to let him attack the basket and make his decisions from their because thats when he's at his best.

[SteveNets15]

Just to make it clear i'm not some big Devin Harris fan i just don't think we should trade the kid unless we have something better in place.I'll kill myself if Farmar is our starter even for a few months.

[vincecarter4pres]

Jason Terry, Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, O.J. Mayo, Manu Ginobili for most of his career, JR Smith, Gilbert Arenas, Ben Gordon, James Harden and Big Baby Davis.

What do all these players have in common?

[SteveNets15]

Jason Terry, Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, O.J. Mayo, Manu Ginobili for most of his career, JR Smith, Gilbert Arenas, Ben Gordon, James Harden and Big Baby Davis.

What do all these players have in common?

They're not on the Nets.lol So who could we honestly get to run the point in NJ if we trade Devin?Assuming we don't get Irving,CP3 or Deron and don't say Andre Miller.Unless you'd really rather have Farmar as our starting pg.We're not getting Curry,Rose,Westbrook,Rondo or Gordon thats for sure.Tell me who is your upgrade for Devin that we can realistically get?

[vincecarter4pres]

Jason Terry, Lamar Odom, Jamal Crawford, O.J. Mayo, Manu Ginobili for most of his career, JR Smith, Gilbert Arenas, Ben Gordon, James Harden and Big Baby Davis.

What do all these players have in common?

They're not on the Nets.lol So who could we honestly get to run the point in NJ if we trade Devin?Assuming we don't get Irving,CP3 or Deron and don't say Andre Miller.Unless you'd really rather have Farmar as our starting pg.We're not getting Curry,Rose,Westbrook,Rondo or Gordon thats for sure.Tell me who is your upgrade for Devin that we can realistically get?

I'm not saying to trade him right this minute, or at all.

All I'm saying is as long as he's the starter and the one running the offense 90% of the time, this team is going nowhere and players like Lopez and Favors will continue to stagnate and before anyone says it, I am in no way deflecting blame on Devin for Brook's poor play or Avery's inability to allow Favors court time.
I'm just saying as this team is, he is half a ball stopper and he's not necessarily a real point guard and I'm not talking about he's not pass first, I'm saying he's not a point guard in the sense that Jason Terry is not a point guard, he just is not a point guard.

And as I said in the above posts, if Devin would accept it and there wasn't a smart trade to be had, would love him to be our 6xth man even if we land Irving.

BTW, pretty sure you were joking, but if not, all those guys are 6xth men.

[SteveNets15]

Yes i was joking even though Odom,Crawford and Gilbert were starters for most of their careers.I do see your point and I'd be ok with Devin playing a Ginobili,Terry,Gordon role IF we have someone better to start over him.

[Rockice_8]

Yeah right now there is just no reason to trade Devin. He's playing solid ball and defending well. We desperately need and upgrade at PG though. True PG that is, not other combo guard. Devin would be a great 1/2 off the bench.

[Preludepunk27]

When Devin plays motivated, he IS a good starter level PG.

When he is motivated, he IS a top 10 PG (mind you probably 8-10 but still good).

The problem is, Devin's focus can be swayed very easily. When most/all the pressure is placed on him, he can't handle it. We saw how effective he could be in that garbage ISO offense we had when it was just him and Vince.

Bottom line: Devin has to be the #3 scoring option on the floor. With Vince, he was extremely solid playing without the ball. The baseline screens we used to run for him worked like 80% of the time. Another thing is, he still lacks confidence in his teammates. This stems back to last year that if he took a guy off the dribble, he takes a beating down the lane and it's all for nothing if Devin doesn't believe the player he's kicking it out to isn't going to hit the open jumper. I think the process of that realm of Devin's mindset is a little slow right now.

Hopefully he'll eventually get it. With Morrow and Sasha, it looks like he's improving. If we add a #1 scorer (hopefully without giving up too much), I'm pretty confident he can return to form. It looks like when Devin believes he should beat a team, he steps up his game. If we're "supposed to lose," he looks a little distant. Does that both me? Most definitely. I think the past 2 years have really taken a toll on him, but we need to get his head right before we totally cast him off.