Jordan Harrison has had an up-and-down season, literally. She started the regular season on the opening day roster and on a standard contract. She was waived, but quickly re-signed with Portland Fire on a developmental contract. That meant she could only play 12 games in the regular season. Her fight for a permanent spot in the WNBA is over, for now. The Fire converted the guard to a standard contract on Sunday, August 9. Read more: Jordan Harrison earns contract with Portland Fire after career night.
How the roster spot opened
Undrafted players typically do not become active players in the WNBA. Before this season, there were only 13 teams, and now there are 15. That severely limits the number of players who log actual minutes in the regular season. Undrafted players make up about 6-7% of the league at any given time. Jordan Harrison is now one of those players.
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West Virginia fans are hardly surprised Harrison made her way into the WNBA. From the outside looking in, most people see an undersized guard and think that it may be difficult for her to compete. Mountaineer fans know better. She is a tenacious defender, with loads of experience operating an offense. She showed her ability on Saturday.
The breakout game(s)
Harrison logged a career-high 28 minutes after her teammate, Carla Leite, left the game with a knee injury. It turned out to be a left knee sprain. Leite and Sarah Ashlee Barker (torn ACL), both second-year guards, are now injured. The Fire also suspended Luisa Geiselsöder’s contract for the rest of the season to allow her to join her German national team to prepare for next month’s FIBA World Cup. That opened the door for Harrison.
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Harrison scored 13 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and one steal in 28 minutes against the Storm. All of those stats are career-highs. The Fire are on the outside looking in of the playoffs, but they could hardly afford a loss to the worst team in the league. They are currently 5.5 games back of the eighth-place team with 12 games remaining.
“I just stay ready,” Harrison said in a post-game interview. “Shoutout to coaches, too. They keep me in the reps in practice, so I’m always ready. This is not new to me because I do it in practice all the time. I’m just glad I showed up.”
All of this happened after another stellar outing. Harrison stepped in for Teja Oblak on Thursday, August 6, against the Toronto Tempo. She played 11 minutes, scored eight points, adding four assists and two steals. Portland went into that game on a five-game losing streak, but has rattled off two consecutive wins with the help of Harrison.
What it means
She entered the league with zero guarantees and had to fight through a waiver to get a second chance. Now she has a full-time WNBA roster spot, and a real opportunity to carve out a role in Portland’s rotation the rest of the season. The Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year has a chance to show how she manages an offense, and, the game changer, how she affects the game on defense.
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