It’s hard to imagine the Nets could handle more bad news. However, now a new report suggests that it wasn’t guaranteed Joe Harris would return this season from ankle surgery he had in November.
It comes amid an ugly stretch for the Nets, which has seen them drop six straight games, including crushing defeat to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. ESPN’s Zach Lowe called Harris’ situation “worrisome” during his latest podcast.
“The Joe Harris situation has become really worrisome,” Lowe said. “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.”
Harris underwent arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 29 and has not played since Nov. 4. He recently received a second opinion on his ankle during the Nets’ previous road trip, which head coach Steve Nash confirmed occurred and called “standard.”
Prior to that, Nash had revealed that the guard had gone through some setbacks with his rehab.
“He’s had some flare-ups,” Nash said last month. “I’m reluctant to talk about it because I’m not a doctor so I don’t want to say the wrong thing, but he’s had some flareups, little setbacks here and there, but he’s continuing to stay positive and work on his rehab and try to overcome it.”
The Nets have been trying to make do without the sharpshooter, relying on Patty Mills to fill the void. Originally there had been hope that Harris would only take four weeks to rehab, but that has since passed and the Nets have not provided any timeline for his return.
The Nets sharpshooter appeared in 14 games before he was sidelined by injury. Harris registered 11.3 points, 4 assists and was shooting 46.6% from three-point range when the injury occurred.
Brooklyn is in the middle of a five-game road trip and has dropped down to sixth in the East with a 29-22 record.
