Montrezl Harrell has undergone successful surgery on his right knee after rupturing his ACL during the NBA off-season. The news of the ACL injury came earlier this month after he had an MRI after suffering swelling in his right knee following a workout.
The news, of course, was about as bad as it could be in this situation, with ACL injuries typically requiring close to a year, if not more, of rehabilitation before a player is able to return to the NBA court. Jamal Murray, for example, tore his ACL in April of 2021. He missed the rest of that season and the entirety of the next, not returning until the beginning of last season 18 months after the injury. Of course, that return turned out pretty well for Murray as his Denver Nuggets went on to win the championship, but the layoff prior to that was a significant one.
In his first season with the Philadelphia 76ers, Harrell averaged just 11.9 minutes for 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in his 57 games last season, but with reigning MVP Joel Embiid the starting five he was never going to be given the kind of minutes he'd received on previous teams. With him absent, expect Paul Reed – who showed some signs of promise last season – to take on the role as the primary back-up to the Sixers' superstar center.
As for Harrell, at 29 years of age he still has plenty of time to recover from this injury and make an impact on the NBA in the future, particularly with surgery having gone well. Though there is no timeline at this point on his return, it's unlikely he'll play during the 2023-24 season and if he does it would only be very much at the business end. He'll still be just 30 years of age at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, so while this is a significant blow, it hopefully won't be a career-ending one.
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