LA Clippers: Welcome Montrezl Harrell
By Paul Tooke
Montrezl Harrell was one of the players traded to the Clippers in the tragic Chris Paul deal. If you are a LA Clippers fan, you probably don’t know much about Harrell, so let’s change that!
Who is Montrezl Harrell?
Let’s clear this up real quick: The “L” at the end of “Montrezl” is silent. Moving on, he is a power forward/center that was drafted 32nd overall in the 2015 draft. He is just 23 years old, and played his first two seasons for the Houston Rockets. You may have confused him with another Rockets forward, Nene, due to the nature of their hair. Last season, in just 18 minutes of playing time per game, Harrell managed to score 9 points on mostly dunks and layups as well as 3.8 rebounds. His most impressive games of the season were in December and January when he scored 28 points against the Trailblazers in just 25 minutes, and 29 against the Clippers in 30 minutes. Both stand-out games ended in victory for his team.
What will he bring to the Clippers?
Montrezl Harrell is “DeAndre Jordan in Blake Griffin’s body.” This means that Harrell has the mobility of Blake Griffin, but the aggression and limited playing-style of DeAndre Jordan. Being limited or without a jumpshot such as Jordan or Harrell is not necessarily a bad thing, as it allows them to focus more on what they are best at: grab boards and dunk the ball. Does this “limited” playing style still sound negative to you? If so, just remember a player named Shaq. Harrell has a long ways to go in order to be compared to Shaq (if he ever could be) but with just two seasons finished, he has plenty of time to develop.
In conclusion
Harrell will of course be coming off of the bench to play the power forward and possibly center position. The team has lost many players this offseason, leaving plenty of stats to be picked up by our newcomers. Montrezl Harrell will work his hardest in whatever amount of minutes he is given next season, and we look forward to watching it!
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