There’s growing concern that Nets forward Joe Harris may not return this season.
ESPN’s Zack Lowe said on his Lowe Post podcast that “The Joe Harris situation has become really worrisome. I don’t think it’s a given that he’s coming back this year, and definitely don’t think it’s a given he’s coming back at 100 percent.” (hat tip to Chris Milholen of NetsDaily).
Harris hasn’t played since November 14th and underwent left ankle surgery later that month. The original prognosis was that Harris would miss 4-8 weeks after the surgery but it’s gone well past that point.
Harris may require another surgical procedure, Brian Lewis of the New York Post reports. His agent told Lewis they’re mulling that option.
“We’re just evaluating. He’s working his way back, he’s rehabbing. But we’re just trying to figure out what’s going to be the best course of action. We have to come to that decision,” Priority Sports’ Mark Bartelstein said. “So I can’t really give you a definitive answer, because we just don’t have it yet of what we’re going to do.
“So it’s possible that there could be one more procedure he could do that would fix the ankle once and for good. But we’re not sure if we need that or not. So the long-term prognosis is great, it’s not going to be a problem; but it’s just, ‘Do we need to do something additional right now or not?’ And we’re just trying to figure that out.”
Harris sustained the injury against Oklahoma City. Heading into that game, the 30-year-old had been averaging 11.9 PPG and 4.1 RPG. Last season, Harris averaged 14.1 PPG, shooting 47.5% from 3-point range in 69 regular season games.
He re-signed with Brooklyn on a four-year, $75MM contract in November 2020.
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