Sixers Officially Announce Montrezl Harrell Signing

Montrezl Harrell will officially join the Sixers for the 2022-2023 season.
Sixers Officially Announce Montrezl Harrell Signing
Sixers Officially Announce Montrezl Harrell Signing /
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The Philadelphia 76ers’ hunt for a backup center has officially concluded this offseason. On Tuesday, the Sixers announced they had signed the seasoned veteran big man Montrezl Harrell. The terms of the deal were not disclosed, per a team release.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Harrell inked a two-year deal worth over $5 million. The second year on the contract is a player option for Harrell.

Philly’s recent signing is another reunion for the team’s President of Basketball Operations, Daryl Morey. After bringing in former Houston Rockets members P.J. Tucker, Danuel House Jr., and Trevelin Queen, Harrell becomes another former Rocket to join the 76ers.

In addition to Morey, Harrell reunites with Sixers head coach Doc Rivers. Prior to coaching the Sixers, Rivers spent seven seasons coaching the Los Angeles Clippers.

For three of his seven seasons playing in the NBA, Harrell played under Rivers in Los Angeles. During that time, Harrell appeared in 221 games. He averaged 23 minutes off the bench, putting up 15 points per game while coming down with 5.8 rebounds and blocking 1.1 shots.

During his final season with the Clippers, Harrell earned the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award before moving on to play with the Los Angeles Lakers. While Harrell didn’t mirror the same success with the Lakers, he was still a solid backup, averaging 13 points and six rebounds in 69 games.

Last season, Harrell split time between Washington and Charlotte. With the Wizards, the big man averaged 14 points and 6.7 rebounds. After moving on from the Wizards, Harrell joined the Charlotte Hornets for 25 games and put up 11 points while coming down with 4.9 rebounds.

Before the Harrell signing, the Sixers had just Paul Reed and Charles Bassey behind Joel Embiid at the five spot. While the team is hopeful one of the two youngsters could compete for consistent minutes behind Embiid during the 2022-2023 season, Harrell brings reliability behind Embiid as he’s a proven veteran in the NBA. 

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


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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Title: Credentialed writer/reporter covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation Email: JustinGrasso32@Gmail.com Location: Philadelphia, PA Expertise: Reporting, insight, and analysis on the Sixers and the NBA  Justin Grasso is a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s FanNation.  Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writer’s Association.  Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoNBA