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LA Clippers: 3 reasons Serge Ibaka is a better signing than Montrezl Harrell

By Ryan Snellings

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on March 08, 2020 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 08: Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors looks on against the Sacramento Kings during the second half of an NBA basketball game at Golden 1 Center on March 08, 2020 in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors celebrates their teams victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game Six to win the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 13, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 and Serge Ibaka #9 of the Toronto Raptors celebrates their teams victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game Six to win the 2019 NBA Finals at ORACLE Arena on June 13, 2019 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Serge Ibaka is a better signing for the LA Clippers than Montrezl Harrell.

When free agency started on Friday, the biggest news of the day was that Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell decided to leave the LA Clippers for the Los Angeles Lakers. He signed for two years and $19 million, the mid-level exception. Luckily, the Clippers were able to fill the hole left by him with Serge Ibaka for the same contract.

Clipper Nation was thrilled with Ibaka being one of the most coveted players in free agency.

This isn’t a piece to bash Montrezl Harrell for leaving the team. While I, along with most of Clipper Nation, have problems with the way things went down, this is just about how much more valuable Ibaka is to the Clippers specifically. When this makes the rounds on Lakers Twitter, please make sure to bring up this paragraph.

More. Letting walk Montrezl Harrell was the right move for the Clippers. light

Reason #1 Serge Ibaka is a better signing for the LA Clippers – The chemistry

We’ll start with the obvious – Serge Ibaka is a good teammate. Montrezl Harrell might be as well but there were reports as the season finished that there might have been some issues with Paul George.

The Chris Haynes story right after the Clippers lost their second round series to the Denver Nuggets comes to mind. In the story, George was painted very negatively while Harrell (who had not played well at all in the series) was shone in a positive light. At the time, this felt like something that Klutch might have leaked to Haynes and based on Trezz’s contract, that definitely seems to be the case.

With the Clippers giving up so many assets to get both George and Kawhi Leonard, there was no way they were going to let spats between players ruin their chances at re-signing the superstar duo in the summer of 2021.

After the signing of Harrell, another report came out that Leonard and Harrell did not get along either. This was first reported in an article by The Athletic (subscription required) but Kevin O’Connor brought the idea back around saying “A reported rift with Kawhi Leonard may have led to the Clippers moving on from Harrell.”

So how did the Clippers address this? They went and got one of Kawhi’s teammates from the Toronto Raptors. You know, the guy that got him to eat a beef penis and were together after they won a championship when Kawhi dropped his “What it do, baby!” quote.

Yeah, it seems like those two get along.

Bringing in someone who has that type of chemistry with Kawhi is big and by all reports, Serge seems like he will be a perfect locker room guy. You can’t put a price on that.

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