L.I.’s Harris may be good Nets fit

The Clippers’ Tobias Harris may be one of most underrated players in the NBA. Hall of Famer Charles Barkley dubbed him that recently.

But don’t think fellow Nets coach and fellow Long Islander Kenny Atkinson doesn’t know how good Harris is. He’s known for a while, even before Harris scored 27 points on 11-for-17 shooting while grabbing eight rebounds to help the Clippers beat the Nets, 127119, on Saturday at Barclays Center.

“He just hit a lot of tough shots. ... I thought Tobias, we did a pretty good job. But he hit some really tough shots,” Atkinson said. “Excellent player.”

“It’s always good to play in front of family and friends. It’s more special to just come out here and get a victory, especially versus a team that’s playing some great basketball pretty much all game,” Harris said. “You’ve got to give them credit — they ran their stuff, they played hard, they played well.”

With the Nets expecting $50 million to $70 million in cap space, they could do worse than bring the Dix Hills, L.I., native back home.

“Anytime you get a compliment from one of those guys, especially a guy of that stature, it’s a great compliment. It just shows a lot of hard work that’s paying off,” said Harris, who agreed with the title bestowed by Sir Charles. “Oh yeah, for sure.”

Harris is averaging 20.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and shooting 41.8 percent from deep, all career-highs. He’s improved his catch-andshoot game, he’s better in the pick-and-roll, he’s just taken incremental steps every year.

“That’s one thing about Tobias: He just keeps getting better,” said Atkinson, who has known Harris all the way back from Half Hollow Hills High School.

“His brother [Steve] coached at my high school. He coached my little brother [Tyler],” Harris said. “They have a big family, a couple times I ran into another one of the brothers he has. It’s not the biggest place. I know coach Kenny.”

With power forward a glaring issue for the Nets — and Harris, 26, an unrestricted free agent next summer after rejecting the Clippers’ five-year, $80 million extension offer — he’d make a perfect fit. But he was coy about a homecoming.

“I’m just focused on the team I put a jersey on every single night for,” Harris said. “I don’t think it’d be fair if my mind was somewhere else at this time.”

At this time.