http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/57116/nba-shootaround-the-sweet-smell-of-successex_cid=grantland33Ben Detrick: Even with studs like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony now moonlighting as power forwards, the 3 spot remains the NBA's go-to position for Swiss army knife cutlery. This season's breakout small forwards have been Paul George and Nicolas Batum, but there's no shortage of other emerging talent at the swingman slot. The Spurs' Kawhi Leonard — an elastic, cornrowed demon unfairly equipped with both rangy defensive prowess and top-shelf scoring efficiency — might be the NBA's most untouchable non-star asset.
Leonard didn't play last night against Orlando, but the game featured another young small forward with multitudinous abilities: Moe Harkless. At only 19, the New York City product has averaged almost 20 points and six rebounds over the last five games, and demonstrated capabilities both as a 3-point threat and shot-rejector. Last night against the Spurs, he chipped in 18 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Ropy and mobile at 6-foot-8, the barely legal teen is a raw version of Andrei Kirilenko.
While center Nikola Vucevic (who pulls down 11.6 rebounds per game) has often been mentioned as the most valuable piece the Orlando Magic scooped up in the Dwight Howard/Andrew Bynum deal, Harkless will be the player the Sixers most rue coughing up in that shockingly disastrous trade. Philadelphia coach Doug Collins, for one, has reportedly been "consumed" with tracking Harkless's box scores — although his asinine distrust of rookies probably would've prevented Moe from being anything beyond a practice-squad corpse for the Sixers. But it's enjoyable to imagine Collins seething with rage as Harkless stuffs yet another stat sheet, sort of like a Facebook-lurking ex-boyfriend watching his former squeeze traipsing through Tuscany with her chiseled new beau. Even though Philly's acquisition of Bynum was universally lauded at the time, Sixers faithful must now live life as if a young, affordable core of Jrue Holiday, Harkless, and Vucevic were never a possibility. And it's only going to get worse.