Manny Harris hopes road to NBA goes through Canton

A year after playing 54 games ? and starting 15 ? as an undrafted rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Manny Harris finds himself in Canton.

The 22-year-old Harris is trying to get healthy to play for the NBA Development League?s Charge. And in his mind, it?s simply an evolutionary step in the life of a young player. A step back to where he ultimately will be.

Harris was waived by the Cavs last week after a freak injury ? freezer burn ? to his right foot kept him out of training camp.

?The first thing I thought was just, ?Get healthy,? ? Harris said about getting cut. ?I?m confident that I?m going to be in the NBA at the end of the day. But you got to get healthy first, before anything.?

In Harris? mind, he?s in the D-League because of an injury.

Whether that?s the case or not is uncertain. Harris, a 6-foot-5, 185-pound shooting guard, averaged 5.9 points on 37.4 percent shooting last year for a 19-win team.

Nothing was guaranteed for this season, including his contact.

But there?s no doubt the injury hurt his chances. The Cavs kept Mychel Thompson, who had been with the D-League?s Erie BayHawks prior to the Cavs inviting him to camp.

?I?m going to have fun down here and just play,? said Harris, a University of Michigan product. ?I haven?t played a minute because I got hurt. So just playing, I?m good with that.?

Harris said he?s ?getting close? to returning to the floor, but no timetable has been established.

?He has that experience of playing with the Cavs last year. So the nice thing is he should be familiar with everything we do,? Charge head coach Alex Jensen said. ?He?s very dynamic, athletic. Plays hard. He can defend and score.?

Harris was acquired through the D-League?s affiliate player rule Wednesday and injury-waived Thursday to make room for new acquisition Frank Hassell. But the Charge retain Harris? rights, so the move is much like placing him on injured reserve. Harris will be with the Charge for practices, shootarounds and games.

Harris declined to go into detail about the injury. The Plain Dealer has reported that it occurred in late November in a cooling chamber at the Nike facility in Oregon. The chamber is supposed to speed the healing process.

?It was real frustrating,? Harris said about not playing in camp. ?But at the end of the day, you got to look at the situation and say it could have been worse. It was bad, but it ain?t the end of the world. It will be better soon, and I can still get out there and show what I can do.?

Source: http://www.timesreporter.com/newsnow/x352565881/Manny-Harris-hopes-road-to-NBA-goes-through-Canton

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