Moe Harkless Returns to Portland, Eyes NBA Comeback With Rip City Remix

📍 PORTLAND, Ore. — 12 years into his career, Maurice Harkless is back in a familiar place but an unfamiliar situation.

Since being drafted in 2012, Harkless has played for six NBA teams—including four years with the Trail Blazers—and started, come off the bench, played big playoff minutes, been out of the rotation, signed an eight-figure free-agent contract and been cut and traded. He’s seen it all. 

But he’s never played in the G League until now.

At 30, Harkless is still relatively young in NBA years but is one of the older players in the G League. He’s hoping to use his time back in Portland with the Rip City Remix to get another shot in the NBA.

“It’s been interesting,” Harkless said after a recent Remix game. “It’s been fun, though.”

Playing in the G League, and returning to the city where he had the most NBA success, was the logical choice as Harkless continued to recover from a serious hip injury that caused him to sit out last season.

In January of 2023, Harkless underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum and hip impingement. He was a free agent at the time, having been waived by Houston before training camp. He turned down a camp invite from an NBA team because he was worried about being completely recovered in time.

“I didn’t feel like my body was ready,” he says. “I’d be putting myself in a bad position and leave myself open to getting reinjured.”

When he'd recovered, Harkless and his agent discussed options—including going overseas—and decided the G League was the easiest way to get back on NBA teams’ radars. It didn’t hurt that they already knew Remix general manager Danny Connors had interest in bringing him in. Harkless’ familiarity with Portland made the decision easier.

Head coach Jim Moran was also in favor of bringing Harkless in, because he thought it would be good for a young team to have someone with significant NBA experience. When Connors floated the idea to him, he said: “If you can get it done, get it done.”

Moran had worked as an assistant under Terry Stotts for seven seasons in Portland, including all four years Harkless was with the Blazers. Moran was one of the coaches that worked the most closely with Harkless at practices.

“I kicked his ass one-on-on-one before every game,” Harkless jokes.

Because he hadn’t played in over a year, it took time for Harkless to get back into game shape. He worked with Connors and Moran on a plan to ramp him back up physically, at first just playing in short bursts off the bench.

Slowly, his usage has ticked up. He’s now played 10 games for the Remix, averaging 5.8 points and 2.7 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game. He’s mostly come off the bench, but he’s feeling more comfortable playing extended minutes, and Moran has been giving him more.

“We’re kind of helping each other out,” Harkless says. “I’m a veteran on this team so I can deliver his message to the guys in a way that they’ll understand it, and he understands where I’m at and where I’m trying to go, so he’s brought me along slowly.”

When Harkless came to the Blazers in 2015, he was still looking to establish himself. He was a first-round pick by the Sixers in 2012, but traded to Orlando before he’d ever played a game. In three seasons with the rebuilding Magic, he showed flashes but was limited by injuries and at times found himself out of the rotation.

He factored so little into the Magic’s plans in the summer of 2015 that then-Blazers GM Neil Olshey was able to get him essentially for free, only giving up a top-55 protected second-round pick. With four of their five starters out the door that summer, Olshey planned to reset around Damian Lillard. 

But Lillard was too good to tank, and Harkless was among a group of supporting players, along with Al-Farouq Aminu and Ed Davis, who powered that team to an unexpected 44-38 finish and a playoff appearance. Harkless mostly came off the bench but appeared in 78 games as a consistent contributor. That summer, he signed a four-year, $42 million contract.

Eight years on, Harkless finds himself a journeyman looking to get back into the NBA. He played three more seasons with the Blazers before being traded to the Clippers in the summer of 2019, and then to New York at the deadline. He signed with Miami in 2020, was traded to Sacramento midway through the 2020-21 season and re-signed with the Kings as a free agent, but never caught on anywhere long-term after Portland.

Once a player bounces around that many years, it can be hard to convince NBA teams they’re worth another look. But in the G League, which is mainly focused on player development, that’s exactly the kind of player that’s valuable to have around on a mostly young team.

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“The veteran leadership has been invaluable for us,” Moran says. “A lot of times, before I even get to the huddle he’s already calming guys down and letting them know what we need to do. He has a lot of years in the NBA, so it’s great to be able to have that veteran experience with a young group like ours.”

Having someone with as much NBA experience as Harkless to turn to has been helpful to the Remix on the court as well as in the locker room.

“He sees and reads the game and can find coverages and holes,” Moran says. “At free throws or in breaks in the game, he’ll tell guys, ‘When I set that screen, they’re not switching, so come off and we’ll get a shot.’ It’s simple stuff that might take me a film session to relay to guys, but he can do it in real time.”

Harkless’ ultimate goal is still to get back into the NBA. He’s only 30, and now that he’s recovered from the hip surgery, he feels he still has a lot left in the tank. But he doesn’t want to force it.

“I don’t worry about going out there trying to go crazy,” Harkless says. “I play to win. I want to help my teammates do what they need to do. If we win some games, my skills will show naturally, so I don’t need a bunch of plays called for me. It’s a balance. But I’m not really so focused on impressing anybody. Just trying to be myself and trying to win and help my teammates get better.”