Despite being a hometown kid, New York Knicks forward Moe Harkless was essentially salary filler in an NBA trade deadline deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. The trade saw the Knicks' leading scorer, veteran forward Marcus Morris, sent to the West Coast.
Harkless, 26, a St. John's product, was traded to the Clippers over the past summer in the four-team sign-and-trade deal with Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat. Arriving in his hometown of New York, the former Portland Trail Blazers forward was considered a top target of competitive teams looking at the buyout market. Harkless was rumored to a candidate for a buyout with New York. But now appears to plan on finishing the 2019-20 season with the Knicks, per Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.
New York Knicks forward Moe Harkless is a player teams are monitoring as a buyout target, but the plan is for both sides to finish the year out together, league sources tell Yahoo Sports.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 21, 2020
Clippers rival Los Angeles Lakers were in the running for Harkless should he be bought out, but the purple and gold franchise just signed Morris' twin brother Markieff after he agreed to a buyout with the Detroit Pistons.
In 51 games this season, Harkless has averaged 5.5 points and 4.0 rebounds in 22.9 minutes a contest, shooting 50.9 percent from the floor and 35.5 percent from 3-point range. In his first game with the Knicks, Harkless did not take Morris' spot in the rotation as the starting small forward. Instead he came off the bench for New York in their pre–All-Star break loss to the Washington Wizards. The Knicks moved swingman and former Lakers wing Reggie Bullock to the three after rookie shooting guard RJ Barrett returned from an injury.
Harkless is set to be a free agent this upcoming offseason.
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