2025-26 Season
ELIJAH HARKLESS
2025-26 Season
ELIJAH HARKLESS
Harkless produces at an below average rate for a 21-minute workload.
About this model: Net Impact can't measure floor spacing, help defense rotations, or playmaking gravity — so wings and guards are slightly undervalued vs bigs. How Net Impact works
TEAM COMPARISON
of 18 teammates (10+ games, 10+ min)
SKILL DNA
Percentile rank vs 235 Guards with 10+ games
THE SEASON SO FAR
Elijah Harkless’s first twenty games of the 2025-26 season were defined by a chaotic tug-of-war between game-wrecking defensive hustle and lineup-killing offensive ineptitude. He frequently found ways to swing momentum without making shots, relying strictly on grit and positioning to keep his team afloat. On 10/29 vs POR, for example, he managed just a single point but posted a +2.1 impact score by acting as an absolute terror on the defensive end. His relentless energy peaked offensively on 02/28 vs NOP, when he racked up 14 points and 5 assists to earn a stellar +7.7 impact score through a masterclass of two-way activity. Yet, when Harkless tried to shoulder too much of the scoring burden, his value plummeted. Look no further than his 16-point outing on 03/09 vs GSW, where a -1.3 impact score revealed how reckless decisions in traffic erased his dynamic playmaking flashes. That erratic shot selection mutated into a full-blown slump on 03/11 vs NYK, as a string of forced, out-of-rhythm perimeter shots derailed the offense and generated a catastrophic -11.4 impact score.
IMPACT TIMELINE
Game-by-game performance vs average. Green = above average, red = below.
Boom-or-bust player. Harkless's impact swings wildly relative to his average — some nights dominant, others invisible. Scoring varies by ~6 points per game.
Streaky shooter — only cracks 45% from the field in 24% of games. Efficiency is all over the place night-to-night.
Defensive difference-maker. Harkless consistently forces tough shots and protects the rim — opponents shoot worse when he's guarding them.
Performance has dropped off. First-half impact: +0.6, second-half: -3.4. Worth watching whether it's fatigue, injury, or opponents adjusting.
In a rough stretch — 4 straight games with negative impact. Longest cold streak this season: 9 games.
MATCHUP HISTORY
Based on 40 games with tracking data. Shows who guarded this player on offense and who he guarded on defense, with their shooting stats in those matchups.
ON OFFENSE: WHO GUARDED HIM
His shooting stats against each primary defender this season
ON DEFENSE: WHO HE GUARDED
How opponents shot when he was the primary defender. Lower FG% = better defense.
SEASON STATS
GAME LOG
26 games played