The Fantasy Basketball Encyclopedia

Player Dossier · Detroit Pistons

Gary Harris

Gary Harris is veteran backcourt insurance rather than a fantasy target; he can defend and make open threes, but Detroit has at least four higher-priority guards and shooters.

Team: Detroit Pistons · Age: 31 · Position: SG · As of: 2026-07-18

2026-27 median projection

GP MPG FG% FT% 3PM PTS REB AST STL BLK TO
45 8.0 .440 .850 0.4 2.0 1.0 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.3

Nine-cat: no-draft. Points: D-. Dynasty: 1.5/10.

Role and evidence

Harris averaged 2.7 points, 1.3 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.6 steals in 13.8 minutes across 48 games, per Basketball-Reference. His .412 three-point percentage came on fewer than one make per game and should not be confused with scalable volume.

Detroit received Harris in the July six-team trade. Cunningham and Jenkins handle the ball; Joe, Huerter, and Robinson supply shooting; Thompson and Green supply perimeter defense; Okorie needs development. Harris is therefore projected at zero fully healthy rotation minutes and positive appearance minutes only when the team rests or loses guards.

Range

Career record

Pre-NBA: Michigan State, two seasons — 12.9 PTS/1.3 STL on .456/.411/.755 as a freshman (Big Ten Freshman of the Year, 2013); 16.7 PTS/4.0 REB/2.7 AST/1.8 STL on .429/.352/.810 as a sophomore (first-team All-Big Ten, Big Ten All-Defensive Team, 2014). Indiana Mr. Basketball and McDonald's All-American in 2012. Draft: 2014, Round 1, Pick 19, Chicago Bulls — traded on draft night to Denver (with Jusuf Nurkić, for Doug McDermott and Anthony Randolph).

Season Age Team GP MPG PTS REB AST STL BLK 3PM FG% FT% TO
2014-15 20 DEN 55 13.1 3.4 1.2 0.5 0.7 0.1 0.4 .304 .745 0.7
2015-16 21 DEN 76 32.1 12.3 2.9 1.9 1.3 0.2 1.4 .469 .820 1.3
2016-17 22 DEN 57 31.3 14.9 3.1 2.9 1.2 0.1 1.9 .502 .776 1.3
2017-18 23 DEN 67 34.4 17.5 2.6 2.9 1.8 0.2 2.3 .485 .827 1.8
2018-19 24 DEN 57 28.8 12.9 2.8 2.2 1.0 0.3 1.4 .424 .799 1.2
2019-20 25 DEN 56 31.8 10.4 2.9 2.1 1.4 0.3 1.3 .420 .815 1.1
2020-21 26 DEN 19 30.6 9.7 2.5 1.7 0.9 0.2 1.3 .442 .733 0.7
2020-21 26 ORL 20 25.0 10.2 1.6 2.3 0.6 0.4 1.2 .365 .875 1.2
2021-22 27 ORL 61 28.4 11.1 2.0 1.8 1.0 0.1 1.9 .434 .874 1.0
2022-23 28 ORL 48 24.7 8.3 2.0 1.2 0.9 0.3 2.0 .450 .900 0.6
2023-24 29 ORL 54 24.0 6.9 1.7 1.6 0.9 0.3 1.4 .441 .756 0.6
2024-25 30 ORL 48 14.8 3.0 1.3 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.8 .383 .583 0.4
2025-26 31 MIL 48 13.8 2.7 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.2 0.6 .442 .889 0.4
Career — — 666 26.0 9.9 2.2 1.8 1.0 0.2 1.4 .446 .810 1.0

Durability: One 70-game season (76 in 2015-16) in twelve years. Recurring soft-tissue trouble — partially torn groin (2016-17), hip/hamstring/adductor absences in the Denver years, August 2022 meniscus surgery entering 2022-23. Recent low GP totals (48, 54, 48, 48) mix maintenance, minor injuries, and rotation-fringe DNPs. Trajectory: The record is a decade-long slide from 17.5-point second option (2017-18 Denver) to sub-15-minute veteran defender, with the three-point stroke (37% career, .412 in 2025-26) the only surviving fantasy skill. In 2026-27 he competes for fifth-guard minutes in Detroit behind Cunningham, Jenkins, Joe, Huerter, Robinson, Thompson, and Green after arriving in the July six-team trade. Nothing short of multiple simultaneous guard injuries makes him fantasy-relevant, and even his 2022-23 Orlando role (24.7 MPG, 2.0 threes) was only marginal in deep leagues. Career sources: ESPN career stats · Wikipedia · Basketball-Reference

Open questions