Los Angeles D-Fenders' Manny Harris Named NBA D-League "Player of the Week"

At the NBA D-League Showcase last week, the eyes of big league executives from all around were on a handful of promising prospects.

A young gun in quite the unique situation, Pierre Jackson's status as the number one overall on the "Prospect Watch" certainly garnered him some attention. Devin Ebanks' reputation as a previous NBA youngster last season drew some executives in to see how he's been progressing. Up and coming big men are always hard to find, so Santa Cruz Warriors' center Dewayne Dedmon also turned some heads. And of course, James Nunnally certainly impressed in Reno, as evidenced by his subsequent NBA call-up by the Atlanta Hawks.

With such names seemingly acting as fitting headliners for the week, the Los Angeles D-Fenders' guard Manny Harris may have very well gone under the radar a bit. But make no mistake, this fiery young gun has plenty of offensive pop.

Our own Scott Rafferty highlighted Harris' most prolific performance to date, an offensive outburst of a tying league-high 49 points last Friday night against Jackson and the Stampede.

Clearly on the climb up to challenge Jackson for that number one spot himself, Harris was just named the D-League's latest "Player of the Week" award winner. It's the second time (this season---fourth time overall) the 25 year old has earned himself such an honor for his efforts.

For more analysis from Scott, read on below:

As for his performance on the night, well, he had the best game of his young career. In 36 minutes, he broke the D-Fenders' franchise record for scoring in a single-game with 49 points. And he did so quite efficiently, shooting 18-for-26 from the floor and 11-12 from the charity stripe. Harris didn't put together the all-around effort that Jackson did (he had just six rebounds, three assists and three steals), but there was really no need, since nobody on the Stampede could cool him off all night long.

Harris did the bulk of his damage in the opening quarter, when he scored 21 points, grabbed three offensive rebounds and dished out two assists. (Ironically, it was the only quarter on the night that the Stampede outscored the D-Fenders). He continued to give them fits as the night wore on with some balanced scoring and it proved to be too much for the Stampede, who went on to lose by a final score of 133-to-124.