Of all the offseason moves in Portland, the Trail Blazers trade for Moe Harkless might have generated the least amount of buzz when President of Basketball Operations Neil Olshey executed the move with the Orlando Magic in July.
After all, the 22-year-old former lottery pick was coming off a career-low 15 minutes per game in 45 appearances for the Magic in 2014-15, another low Harkless. The St. John's product was healthy, but didn't seem to fit in to the plans in Orlando. All Olshey and the Trail Blazers had to do was send a second-round pick to the Magic, a selection that won't come until 2020.
Six games into the 2015-16 campaign, the low risk-high reward transaction is paying dividend in Portland. Harkless' confidence and career has been rejuvinated in Rip City. Coming off the bench, the versatile 6'9" forward posted his first double-double in the Trail Blazers' win at Utah on Wednesday and followed that performance with 10 points on Thursday to help his team to victory versus Memphis.
"I’m getting more comfortable out there," Harkless said after Thursday's win. "That’s the most important thing when playing, just being comfortable. It takes time, but I’m getting more and more comfortable every day."
Often the first man off Terry Stotts' bench, Harkless is back into the flow that saw him average 8.2 points and 4.4 rebounds as an 19-year-old rookie in Orlando back in 2012-13. In just over 23 minutes of work per game, Harkless is exceeding his rookie averages with 8.8 points and 5.4 rebounds so far this season.
The increased minutes and production has gotten Harkless' confidence "back where it needs to be."
"It’s definitely nice to be out there playing again," he said. "My confidence is pretty high. I’ve always tried to remain confident, even last year in the situation that I was in."
As he continues to find a groove in a rotation with Al-Farouq Aminu and Allen Crabbe for minutes at small forward and, at times, power forward, there's no reason to believe Harkless' production won't remain steady, if not improve, as the season -- and Harkless -- matures.
It may be another decade until a full analysis of the July trade can be made. For now, it appears Olshey and the Trail Blazers may have gotten away with robbery.