Maurice Harkless

Moe Harkless
Moe Harkless
Born	Maurice José Harkless; May 11, 1993 (age 33); New York City, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2012–present
Known for	NBA player, Puerto Rican national team member

Maurice José "Moe" Harkless (born May 11, 1993) is a professional basketball player of American-Puerto Rican descent who most recently competed for the Rip City Remix in the NBA G League. Prior to turning professional, he played collegiate basketball with the St. John's Red Storm and was selected 15th overall in the 2012 NBA draft. Harkless has also played internationally, representing the Puerto Rican national team.

High school career

Harkless was born and adopted in New York City and began his high school education at Forest Hills High School located in Queens. For his senior year, he transferred to South Kent School in Connecticut. During the 2009–10 season, he earned all-metro recognition and was honored as Queens High School Player of the Year after averaging 16.5 points alongside 11.5 rebounds per game. At South Kent in 2010–11, Harkless posted averages of 27.2 points, 13.6 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 3.1 blocks, and 1.6 steals per contest, culminating in an MVP award at the 2011 Yo Mama Classic.

College career

In his freshman year at St. John's University during the 2011–12 season, Harkless started every one of the 32 games, averaging 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds while logging significant defensive contributions across 36.1 minutes per game. He led his team in rebounds, blocks, and minutes played, ranking second nationally among freshmen for rebounding. His performance earned him the distinction of Big East Conference Men's Basketball Rookie of the Year along with All-Big East Honorable Mention accolades. Throughout the season, he achieved 11 double-doubles and recorded a personal best of 32 points against Providence on December 27. Opting to enter the NBA draft in March 2012, Harkless chose to forgo his remaining college eligibility.

Orlando Magic (2012–2015)

Although initially picked 15th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2012 NBA draft, Harkless was promptly traded to the Orlando Magic. During his rookie campaign, he averaged 8.2 points per game and demonstrated solid defensive skills, including multiple games scoring in double figures and a career-high of 28 points on April 1 versus the Houston Rockets. Over three seasons with Orlando, his playing time varied due to roster adjustments and competition from teammates such as Tobias Harris and Aaron Gordon, resulting in reduced minutes and statistical output by his third year.

Portland Trail Blazers (2015–2019)

In July 2015, Harkless was traded to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for a second-round draft pick. He evolved from a reserve role into a starter by the conclusion of that season, boosting both scoring and rebounding during playoff appearances. In February 2016, he reached season highs of 19 points and 13 rebounds and later set a career-best with 16 rebounds in April. Although his restricted free agency status during summer 2016 introduced some uncertainty due to team roster changes, Harkless secured a four-year contract worth $40 million with Portland. He maintained a starting position at small forward for much of the subsequent seasons while enhancing his three-point shooting accuracy from approximately 28% to near 35%. Injuries limited his availability during portions of the 2017–18 and early 2018–19 campaigns; nonetheless, he produced crucial moments including a buzzer-beating three-pointer against the Lakers in April 2019.

Los Angeles Clippers (2019–2020)

In July 2019, Harkless was moved to the Los Angeles Clippers as a component of a complex four-team trade that saw Miami obtain Jimmy Butler.

New York Knicks (2020)

In February 2020, Harkless was acquired by the New York Knicks in exchange for Marcus Morris, as part of a three-team transaction that included Washington.

Miami Heat (2020–2021)

Harkless inked a contract with the Miami Heat in November 2020.

Sacramento Kings (2021–2022)

In March 2021, Harkless was traded to the Sacramento Kings along with Chris Silva in return for Nemanja Bjelica. He then re-signed with Sacramento in August 2021.

By July 2022, he was traded to the Atlanta Hawks together with Justin Holiday and a first-round draft pick in exchange for Kevin Huerter. During the offseason, Harkless was subsequently traded twice more—first to the Oklahoma City Thunder and then to the Houston Rockets—before being released by Houston in October 2022.

Rip City Remix (2023–2024)

In November 2023, Harkless joined the Rip City Remix of the NBA G League, but he was waived in January 2024.

National team career

Harkless showed interest in representing Puerto Rico at the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in January 2014; however, he later withdrew that year to concentrate on his NBA career. He officially made his debut with Puerto Rico's national team in 2015.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Orlando | 76 || 59 || 26.0 || .461 || .274 || .570 || 4.4 || .7 || 1.2 || .8 || 8.2 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Orlando | 80 || 41 || 24.4 || .464 || .383 || .594 || 3.3 || 1.0 || 1.2 || .6 || 7.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Orlando | 45 || 4 || 15.0 || .399 || .179 || .537 || 2.4 || .6 || .7 || .2 || 3.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Portland | 78 ||14||18.7||.474||.279||.622||3.6||.9||.6||.4||6.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Portland |77||69||28.9||.503||.351||.621||4.4||1.1||1.1||.9||10.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Portland |59||36||21.4||.495||.415||.712||2.7||.9||.8||.7||6.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"|Portland |60||53||23.6||.487||.275||.671||4.5||1.2||1.1||.9||7.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 | | style="text-align:left;" |L.A.Clippers |50||38||22.8||.516||.370||.571||4.0||1.0||1.0||.6||5.5 |- | style="text-align:left;" |New York

|12||10||23.8|| .455 || .280 || .625 ||3..3|||1..7||| .8||| .3|||6..8

|-

| style="text-align:left;" rowspan=2 | 
| style="text-align:left;" |Miami
|11|||3|||11..3||| .385||| ..455||| ..000||| ..1..2||| ..6||| ..2||| ..4||| ..1..4

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |Sacramento
|26|||20|||24..9||| .421||| ..247||| ..805||| ..2..9||| ..1..4||| ..1..1||| ..6||| ..9

|-

| style="text-align:left;" | 
| style="text-align:left;" |Sacramento
|47|||24|||18..4||| .459||| ..307||| ..714||| ..2..4||| ..5||| ..6||| ..5||| ..4..6

|- class="sortbottom"

| style="text-align:center;" colspan=2 |Career
|621|||371|||22..6||| .474||| ..320||| ..624||| ..3..5||| ..9||| ..9||| ..6||| ..6..9

Playoffs

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |2016
| style="text-align:left;" |Portland
|11|||11|||24.7||| .427||| .341||| .480||| 5.1||| 6||| 9||| 3||| 11.0

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |2017
| style="text-align:left;" |Portland
|4|||4|||24.8||| .294||| .167||| .875||| 3.3||| 8||| 1.3||| 1.3||| 7.3

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |2018
| style="text-align:left;" |Portland
|2|||1|||26.5|| .538 || .333 || – || 4.0 || 2.0 || 0 || 0.5 || 8.0

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |2019
| style="text-align:left;" |Portland
16 16 24.3 .477 .250 .639 4.9 1.4 1.1 1.0 8.4

|- class='sortbottom' |'style='text-align:center;' colspan='2'|'Career |'33'|'32'|'24.6'|' .436 '|' .289 '|' .609 '|' 4.7 '|' 1.1 '|' 1.0 '|' .8 '|' 9.1 '

College

|- | style="text-align:left;"|2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"|St. John's | 32 || 32 || 36.1 || .452 || .215 || .676 || 8.6 || 1.5 || 1.6 || 1.4 || 15.5

Personal life

Harkless is the son of Rosa Harkless and has two siblings: a sister named Shakima and a brother, Tyler Rodgers. His maternal grandfather is of Puerto Rican heritage, and he was brought up by his grandmother, Barbara Harkless.

External links

St. John's Red Storm biography