Former Brooklyn Nets sharpshooting wing Joe Harris has decided to retire from the NBA after playing for 10 seasons, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Harris, 32, originally entered the league in 2014 after being drafted 33rd overall by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Known as a three-point weapon during his undergraduate years at the University of Virginia, Harris made a small impact during his rookie campaign with the Cavs as a catch-and-shoot threat on the wing. He only ended up playing in five games with Cleveland during the 2015-16 season after undergoing surgery to remove an extra bone in his right foot.
Once his two years with Cleveland were over, Harris agreed to a contract with the Nets, the team he really left his mark on. Immediately, Harris was utilized as the Nets' best three-point shooting option, as head coach Kenny Atkinson immediately looked to Harris to be a spark of scoring on the perimeter.
In a total of seven seasons with the Nets, Harris averaged 11.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game while shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and 44.0 percent from three-point range. The perimeter specialist shot under 40 percent just once during his time in Brooklyn.
It is also worth noting that Harris led the league in three-point shooting on two different occasions. He did so during the 2018-19 season after shooting 47.4 percent from three-point range, and Harris sat at the top of the league in this category once again during the 2020-21 season with a 47.5 three-point percentage.
Unfortunately for Harris, he suffered a left ankle injury during the 2021-22 season that required two different surgeries. The veteran was never the same after this injury, which is why the Nets ultimately traded him ahead of the start of the 2023-24 season to the Detroit Pistons.
This past year, which turned out to be his final NBA season, Harris played in 16 total games, averaging 2.4 points per game and shooting 33.3 percent from three-point range. The Pistons waived Harris after failing to move the veteran at the trade deadline.
Over the course of his career, Harris made 1,026 three-pointers. He holds the record for the highest three-point shooting percentage (43.6 percent) by a player with at least 1,000 career made threes. Harris also retires as the best three-point shooter in Nets history.
The NBA's 2019 Three-Point Contest champion will always be remembered for his shooting skills from the perimeter, and Nets fans will always remember him for helping lead the organization into a new era after the disastrous Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade.
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