The Los Angeles Lakers have made a couple of moves to start the NBA offseason. To start, they acquired Dennis Schroder in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then signed Wesley Matthews to begin free agency. Now, they have agreed to a deal with Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell.
According to a report from Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Lakers are nearing a deal with Harrell.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN followed that report with one of his own that confirmed that Harrell was signing with the Lakers to a two-year contract. The deal will be worth $19 million.
This is a huge deal for the Lakers, who saw Dwight Howard leave town in free agency to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers. Harrell isn’t necessarily a center, but he rebounds and defends with tenacity. He is exactly the kind of player that Los Angeles was looking for.
Once again, the rich get richer in the NBA. Harrell heading to the Lakers was not expected. However, it gives him a chance to play against his former team, the Los Angeles Clippers, and compete for a championship.
Last season with the Clippers, Montrezl Harrell ended up averaging 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Those number are going to look really nice alongside Anthony Davis in the front-court. If he comes off the bench, he is going to be a major threat for the Lakers.
Expect to see the Lakers continue to be aggressive this offseason. They are pumped to have won the NBA Finals last season, but are gunning to win again in 2020-21. If this move did anything, it proved that statement.
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