Montrezl Harrell is sparing no opportunity to take shots at the Clippers. The Lakers’ marquee addition of the offseason said his new team play ‘real basketball’.
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Harrell’s career was given a jumpstart when he was sent to Los Angeles as part of the Chris Paul trade to Houston. He took on a much larger role with a team that played a more traditional style. The heavy amount of pick-and-roll play by the Clippers buffed his stats up quite a bit.
Harrell was earlier known primarily as an energy guy in the Kenneth Faried mould. But opposition teams soon learned to take him for granted at their own peril. The 6’7″ power forward/center is a force of nature while on the drive – he changes direction at will.
Now on the Lakers’ roster, Harrell has taken practically no time to settle into life. He’s already exhibiting exquisite understanding with LeBron James, Dennis Schroder, Kyle Kuzma and their bench mob. All the indications are that he will be unleashed at a different level through the course of the season.
Montrezl Harrell throws heavy shade at Clippers while praising LeBron James and Lakers
Speaking to The Orange County Register, Harrell talked about the Lakers’ free-flowing brand of ball:
“It’s really just being able to just play my game and just not being kind of told, ‘You always got to be this, this or this’. It’s kind of been the system I’ve kind of been playing in for a while. Got to take threes, layups or let’s get free throws.”
“But that’s not like that over here. They play to the style of everybody’s game and we’re not looking at anybody that, ‘You have to do this, you got to do that,’ man. We play basketball over here. It’s a free-flowing game.”
Harrell is the kind of wrecking ball the Lakers can unleash in small-ball lineups. While he struggles at guarding the biggest centers and the fastest guards, the Lakers have the roster to hide him on defense. Expect him to be a Sixth Man of the Year candidate for another season.
