Like the nearly 8,000 fans who crammed Moda Center Sunday night for the Portland Trail Blazers' annual Fan Fest, Moe Harkless was a spectator as his teammates scrimmaged, danced and hoisted three-pointers.

The Blazers' starting small forward was held out of the annual scrimmage as he continues to ease back into basketball action following a March procedure on his left knee. But while recovery has been slower than he or the Blazers originally anticipated, Harkless left the arena encouraged by his progress.

Slowly but surely, Harkless has increased his training camp participation, working into more drills, running through more scrimmages and taking part in more workouts. And even though he skipped Fan Fest -- a night after sitting out the Blazers' exhibition opener -- Harkless said he has been able to "push it" in recent days with positive results.

"I'm feeling pretty good," he said. "Building every day, making progress. I'm happy with the way things are going."

The Blazers limited Harkless' participation in practice over the first week of camp, picking and choosing what drills and scrimmages to take part in. A trio of decision-makers -- Harkless, an assistant coach and Jesse Ellis, the health and performance director -- evaluated practice plans before each workout to decide what Harkless would and wouldn't do. He said he was able to practice in portions of practice every day last week (he sat out Thursday's afternoon workout, but went through the evening session) and has his most extensive work on Friday, resting only during a "couple drills and the last scrimmage."

The group will continue that course of action moving forward. But, heading into the second week of training camp, Harkless said, the goal is for him to participate in every practice.

"That's the plan," he said. "We're still going to do the same thing, monitor it, take it day by day. But that's the plan."

And what about exhibition games? Harkless said he hopes to play limited minutes in at least two games, gradually easing his way back into the speed and physical nature of NBA play.

"I want to play in a couple," he said. "I don't want to just go out there and just go all out. It's tough on the body. Coming from an injury, it's probably not smart to do."

This measured approach likely won't end when the regular season begins. A lot will depend on how Harkless' knee responds to preseason play, but he said he most likely will play reduced minutes when the Blazers open the regular season Oct. 18 against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Blazers have three games during the first week of the regular season and seven over the first two weeks, and Harkless doesn't want to endure another setback.

"I'll probably start off the first couple games (with) low minutes, just see how I feel, and then increase every game," he said. "That's why I want to get more than one preseason game in to try and build and gage that, so when the regular season starts, I have a better idea."

When Harkless announced last week at media day that he would be slowed during camp, it was a surprising revelation. He had arthroscopic surgery on March 28 to remove a loose body from his left knee and missed the final nine games of the regular season, in addition to two of the Blazers' four playoff games. Despite the late-season buzz-kill, one assumed a summer of rest and rehabilitation would cure his left knee woes. But after spending the first six weeks of the offseason in rehabilitation, Harkless continued to endure discomfort and remained limited throughout the summer.

In many ways the inconsistent Harkless is an X-factor for the Blazers, who are banking that organic growth from within will help them improve enough to overcome their recent playoff failures. When Harkless has played his best, the Blazers have been at their best the last three seasons. He's one of their most versatile and athletic defenders, he's an underrated long-range shooter and his ability to score in transition and dart to the hoop for offensive put-backs are needed elements. This was on full display in the second half of last season, when he emerged from an early funk to become an important part of the Blazers' late-season surge.

So it's a good sign that Harkless is happy with his progress.

"I had days over the summer where it was pretty frustrating," Harkless said. "So that's why I say I'm happy with where I'm at. I haven't really had a day where I was like, 'I can't do anything today.' I'm happy with how things are going."

--Joe Freeman | jfreeman@oregonian.com | 503-294-5183 | @BlazerFreeman