The Los Angeles Lakers impressively signed big man Montrezl Harrell away from the Los Angeles Clippers early in free agency.
However, one front office executive told Sam Amick of The Athletic that Harrell’s fit on his new team is horrible.
“Montrezl doesn’t fit (the Lakers),” the executive told Amick. “I don’t know how he fits with that team, but he’ll help them in the regular season for sure. But I don’t know. That remains to be seen. I think the biggest thing about getting Montrezl is that they took him from the Clippers, where he was productive. And he didn’t go somewhere else. But I’m not sure exactly how he fits with them. He needs somebody who spoon-feeds him, because he’s going to run the court and he’s going to be active on the glass. He’s going to do all that stuff — run the high pick-and-roll, dive to the basket and finish and get spoon-fed, so spacing is not great. The Lakers don’t have great spacing. So I don’t know where he fits, but he will give them a chance to rest AD (Anthony Davis) and LeBron [James] during the regular season. During the playoffs, he probably won’t be as much of a factor.”
Harrell, 26, had a breakout stint during the 2019-20 regular season.
The forward collected 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game off the bench last season. The NBA rewarded him with 2020 Sixth Man of the Year award.
Yet, Harrell’s superb production subsided in the postseason. During the 2020 playoffs, Harrell put up just 10.5 points and 2.9 boards per contest.
The Clippers embarrassingly squandered a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round of the 2020 playoffs and went home early.
On the other end, the Lakers won the 2020 championship.
While Harrell’s fit with the Lakers is being called into question, he recently warned how deadly his chemistry with the Lakers could be this season.
Furthermore, James is thrilled about playing with Harrell.
