It seemed like one of the biggest heists in the market of 2020. Montrezl Harrell, who had just been Best Sixth Man with the Los Angeles Clippers, decided to switch teams to join the neighbors, the Lakers. Much was written about it, even emphasizing that it was a fantastic move of the gold and purple to weaken a direct rival and reinforce in a single blow. It didn’t go well.
It is true that the Clippers lost an important piece of their scheme, but the Lakers did not end up adding what they expected; so much so that Harrell made the playoffs having a residual role that limited him to 9.8 minutes per night. The relationship between the two ended when he was sent to the Washington Wizards in the Russell Westbrook trade.
Now, already established in the capital of the United States, the power forward is excited about what lies ahead. In the Lakers he was not comfortable, and even assures that he could not show his full potential because of the way they used him.
“Honestly, I’m trying to go back to playing basketball freely and enjoying the game again while helping my team on both sides of the court. I really wasn’t used as I wanted last year. I almost felt like I had a free season. So I’m using this preseason to get back to my level and remove a lot of the rust in my own game, ”he tells Chase Hughes of NBC Sports Washington.
(Photograph by Rob Carr / Getty Images)
