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2024 Free Agents - Montrezl Harrell

Summary
After winning Sixth Man of the Year in '19-'20, I'm sure Harrell thought he was in for a big payday that summer. Unfortunately for Harrell, he struggled mightily in the Orlando Bubble, and ended up settling for a 2-year $19 million contract with the Lakers. It wasn't just that Harrell struggled, it was that his known deficiencies really seemed to expose themselves in the playoffs when the games mattered most. Harrell had a hot start to the '21-'22 season, but cooled off later in the year and didn't help ease any questions about how he can add value at the highest level. He struggled to get consistent minutes in Philadelphia in '22-'23, losing minutes to Paul Reed or Dewayne Dedmon at times, often falling out of the regular rotation, and not playing at all in the playoffs.

At center, Harrell's lack of rim protection and overall defensive ability makes it difficult for his team to be solid on defense. He can be attacked in pick-and-roll, and when matchups become more important in the playoffs teams can go at him relentlessly in that regard. At 6'8", Harrell is undersized for a center, and isn't exactly Draymond Green (to be fair, pretty much nobody is, except for Draymond himself) when it comes to having the positional awareness and defensive IQ that could make up for that lack of size. He also has never had good defensive rebounding numbers.

All that being said, Harrell is a good offensive player. He rolls hard to the rim, and has good feel for timing on the roll and knowing how to be in the right pocket to receive passes out of the pick-and-roll. He has really nice touch around the rim, and even has a floater game. However, he shot a career low 67% at the rim in '22-'23. He has improved his passing out of the roll, as he's able to hit the corner when the weakside drops down. He also is a good offensive rebounder, finishing in the above average or better each of the last six seasons, per Cleaning the Glass. 

Harrell certainly has value as a backup center, but he's not a starting level center and likely not someone you want in your closing lineup when the games matter most. Harrell ended up settling for a minimum contract the last two summers, and may have to do so again in 2024, especially after tearing his ACL in the 2023 off-season that will likely keep him out of the '23-'24 season.
 
Cap Considerations
Harrell was waived by the 76ers prior to the start of the season, and has yet to sign with another NBA team.

Other teams will have multiple ways to sign him as even teams without cap space could use any of the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also likely that he only has offers for the minimum, and may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Potential Teams: Bulls, Suns, 76ers, Nets, Kings

Predicted Contract: 1-year, $3 million (non-guaranteed) with the Bulls

Actual Contract: Overseas

Harrell ended up leaving the NBA, signing with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia.

Last updated: 9/16/2024

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