The Los Angeles Lakers are clearly looking to strengthen their roster this off-season. Earlier, reports emerged that the Lakers had a trade in principle for OKC’s Dennis Schroder. ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski recently reported that LA Clippers’ free agent Montrezl Harrell had agreed to a two-year deal with city rivals and champions Los Angeles Lakers.
Free agent Montrezl Harrell has agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, agent Rich Paul of @KlutchSports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
The winners and losers in the Montrezl Harrell trade
The Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers are the biggest winners in this deal. Harrell was the Sixth Man of the Year for the 2019-20 season, and he is a great center and a very good defender.
Harrell is also a major upgrade on Dwight Howard. Besides being a great defender, Harrell is also capable of adding some points to the board. He averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 27.8 minutes per game while Howard averaged only 7.5 points, 7.3 rebounds and 0.7 assists.
The Lakers had already added Schroder to their roster. By adding Harrell, they will be adding more depth and quality to the side. With the departure of some of their veterans in Howard and Green, the new signings of Schroder and Harrell make the Lakers much scarier.
Schroder, 27 and Harrell, 26 are both at their peak. Adding them to a LeBron James and Anthony Davis led Lakers only cements the team’s position as one of the favourites for the next season.
Dwight Howard
Dwight Howard had a great season with the Lakers. Given his limited minutes, he was a jolt of energy to the side.
Earlier today, the 8-time all-star must took to Twitter and tweeted, “Purple and gold never gets old”. Minutes later, he deleted the tweet. Later, the Athletic’s Shams Charania reported that Howard had joined the 76ers instead.
Free agent Dwight Howard has agreed to a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, his agent Charles Briscoe tells @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 21, 2020
Howard left the former champions to join a side which at this point is not even the best in the East. Dwight could have won his second ring in LA, but now his chances are slim.
The Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers lost their third best scorer in Montrezl Harrell. They were coming off an embarrassing loss to the Denver Nuggets and were eager to run-it back with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.
With Harrell gone, there first choice centre will be Ivica Zubac. It will be hard to replace a man of Harrell’s talents. Given that majority of the centers have already signed with other teams, the options will be limited for the Clippers.
Kawhi and the Clippers were already on the hunt for a point-guard, and Harrell’s departure creates more holes in their squad. They will now be actively looking for a center as well.
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