Montrezl Harrell Discusses Having Consistent Role on 76ers Again

76ers backup center Montrezl Harrell opens up about having a steady role.

The Philadelphia 76ers’ rotation has gone through a lot of changes so far this season. Not only has Doc Rivers expanded the number of guys garnering minutes on a nightly basis, but the team has also dealt with its fair share of injuries over time as well.

The Sixers are still working on finding consistency with their primary rotation, especially when it comes to the backup center minutes. At the start of the year, Doc Rivers rolled with Montrezl Harrell as Joel Embiid’s primary backup.

Eventually, Paul Reed got the nod to pick up consistent minutes behind Embiid when the All-Star was healthy. At this point, Rivers has pivoted back to Harrell, a decision he explained last week.

“Just [Montrezl]’s play,” Rivers explained when asked about his decision to have Harrell take on the minutes behind Embiid. “You know, I thought Paul was struggling. I think that was clear. And Trezl had been struggling before that.”

While the Sixers’ head coach mentioned that his decision to roll with Harrell isn’t permanent, it’s clear that Harrell will continue taking on that role, as he’s averaged 12 minutes on the court over the last four games.

In the past, Harrell has opened up about the difficulty of having an uncertain role on a nightly basis in some games, as the Sixers would have him splitting the backup minutes while not playing at all during other games. But with consistent playing time recently, Harrell is getting comfortable in a steady role and staying focused on the task at hand.

“I’m just coming in ready to play every day, man,” Harrell said earlier this week. “When my name’s being called, I’m making sure I go out there and do what I need to do when it’s called — simple as that. I’m not really worrying about what the lineup changes may be and what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. I have to stop worrying about things like that. That’s things I can’t control because if I did that, I’m going to burn myself out worrying about things I can’t control. I just come in, be prepared, ready to play every game like I’m going to suit up, go out there, and play 25 minutes every game.”

The Sixers are set to host the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday night. As all signs point towards Harrell continuing to back up Embiid, the veteran will likely have a role off the bench for Philadelphia against Detroit.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.