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Tim BontempsESPN
Free-agent guard Joe Harris has agreed to a four-year, $75 million deal to return to the Brooklyn Nets, his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports, told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Harris, 29, averaged a career-high 14.5 points per game last season for Brooklyn while shooting 42.4% from 3-point range. His return — along with the additions of Landry Shamet and Bruce Brown in trades earlier this week — should help the Nets provide spacing for stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Signing Harris represents a massive financial commitment from Nets owner Joe Tsai. Brooklyn is now well into the luxury tax and still has a few open spots on its roster.
The 6-foot-6 guard resurrected his career in Brooklyn over the past four years, going from a castoff after a season-ending injury in his second year with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2015-16 to one of the league’s best 3-point shooters. Among 208 players to attempt at least 400 3-pointers since the start of 2017-18, only Seth Curry has a higher 3-point field goal percentage.
Harris’ development helped the Nets recover following the 2013 trade for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce that left the team without control of its first-round pick for five years.
During that time, Brooklyn relied on finding underused talent to rebuild — players such as Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie and D’Angelo Russell, who similarly resuscitated their careers.
The Nets’ player-development success helped attract the attention of Durant and Irving, who signed with Brooklyn as free agents in the 2019 offseason.