Montrezl Harrell’s run with the Los Angeles Lakers last year was an abject failure.
Fresh off a Sixth Man of the Year campaign, many thought he would come in following LA’s championship run and provide the support of support Dwight Howard could not. Instead, he regressed badly – culminating in a disappointing late-season run that saw his playing time completely dissipate.
Harrell was understandably frustrated with how his time as a member of the purple and gold went – repeatedly taking shots at the team on social media. Tensions were so high that Anthony Davis refused to invite him to his wedding.
This past offseason, the Lakers traded Harrell away to the Washington Wizards in the deal that returned Westbrook to LA. At the time, he was something of an afterthought in that trade.
As it turns out – getting dealt to DC served as a career rejuvenation for Harrell. He is currently having a spectacular year and is now on the verge of breaking 36-year-old record:
Montrezl Harrell this season:
16.6 PPG
8.1 RPG
65.7 FG%He is on pace to become the first bench player to average 15+ points on 65% shooting since Darryl Dawkins in 1985-86. pic.twitter.com/2cDigiWY1k
— StatMuse (@statmuse) December 2, 2021
Not only is Harrell killing it on a personal level, the Wizards are 14-8 on the year and sit third in the East. Compare that to the Lakers, who are 12-11 and already considering blowing up their roster after that disastrous Westbrook deal.
Obviously Harrell has had some not-so-nice things to say about LeBron James and the Lakers in recent months. But can anyone really blame him? Clearly he was getting underutilized in a pretty massive way.
LA’s loss is DC’s gain.
Brittany Renner’s money situation just went from bad to worse. https://t.co/IOBsaziWlo
— Game 7 (@game7__) December 2, 2021
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.