Despite undergoing an MRI on Wednesday that revealed a torn ACL and a medial meniscus tear in his right knee, the Philadelphia 76ers plan on keeping veteran big man Montrezl Harrell on the roster, per Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer. Harrell, who sustained the injury during an offseason training session, re-signed with the Sixers on a one-year, $2.9 million minimum contract in July.
With both Paul Reed and Mo Bamba also playing behind Sixers star center Joel Embiid, the role that the 29-year-old Harrell would have had with Philadelphia moving forward was up in the air ahead of training camp. Harrell is more accomplished than either Reed or Bamba, and his strong-willed approach is appreciated. However, just two seasons after winning Sixth Man of the Year, the Sixers saw Harrell averaging near career-lows across the board.
This was presumably due to interior scoring taking a hit, but him playing behind a player of Embiid's caliber — and during an MVP season no less — rather than Ivica Zubac (Los Angeles Clippers) like had a bit to do with it as well. Furthermore, as Harrell had already faced a fair number of critiques for his defense, its more than understandable why he played a minimal role las season.
That said, there was still solid evidence of the positive impact Harrell can provide when healthy. In seven starts last season, Harrell averaged 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game on 61.1 percent shooting from the field.
There aren't many reserve centers that can put up those numbers, which is exactly the Sixers would be wise to keep him around. Especially as keeping him on the roster could allow them to both apply for a Disabled Players Exception down the line and monitor his injury rehab in case they can see themselves re-signing him in 2024.
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