Strengths
Right-handed… Harkless is a long, super-athletic forward that looks the part of an NBA wing at 6'8" and length. His size is only aided by his explosive leaping abilities and quickness that will help him move over to the small forward spot full-time. When he adds muscle and fills out his wiry frame, Harkless will really start to become a household name, despite the fact that his production is deserving of that now… He has an excellent first step, bursting by his defending in the half-court or sprinting up the wing in transition. Moreso, Harkless plays aggressive on both ends of the floor… Due to a lack of depth and production, Harkless has played four positions on the floor- anywhere from shooting guard to center at some points. As a post-player, he displays nice footwork, which when combined with his quickness, allows him to do some damage on the low blocks… On the wing, Harkless moves well without the ball in the halfcourt setting. While his ball handling and perimeter shooting is limited, if he gets into the lane, he commonly finishes above the rim. He possesses the ability to drive the ball in a straight-line fashion, but not much more than this at this stage. He uses his long, randy strides and terrific first step to beat his man off the dribble… Harkless is an energy guy on the glass, using his spring and quick leaping to pull-down the ball and then get out in transition… He has all the basics to become an elite-perimeter defender- size, length, athleticism, lateral quickness…
Weaknesses
At 6'8", Harkless has a lengthy, wiry frame at just 190 pounds. But his body will mature and he will fill out and continue to get stronger. He can use this strength to establish post-positioning with his size and back down his defenders… He is very raw at this stage offensively- he isn't a shot creator with his limited ball-handling and ability to change directions. Harkless will need to improve his ball-handling and thus, his shot-creating abilities by adding advanced moves to his arsenal… On the perimeter, he is a well below-average shooter based on his inconsistent shot release. He struggles to shot the ball off the bounce, but does a decent job knocking down shots spotting up wide-open.
