The Miami Heat could, likely, benefit from the services of Montrezl Harrell this offseason, but why would he leave the Los Angeles Lakers?
Last November, Harrell would leave the Clippers in free agency after an unforgettable second-round exit to the Denver Nuggets. Los Angeles held a 3-1 series lead over Denver, who came back to win in seven games, as they advanced to the Western Conference Finals.
Harrell then signed a two-year deal to join the defending champion Lakers, for what would be yet another unsuccessful title run. In 69 appearances and one start with the Lakers, Harrell averaged 13.5 points per game, which was a short decline from what was seemingly a breakout year with the Clippers in 2019 (18.6).
However, a large part of this was due to the Lakers bolstering a power-rotation with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Along with Harrell, Los Angeles signed Marc Gasol in the 2020 offseason and eventually signed buyout candidate, Andre Drummond, after he cleared waivers in late March.
As Los Angeles dealt with several injuries across the roster, they finally began to hit their stride late in the year — with Harrell becoming the odd-man out of the rotation. He recorded two DNPs and played in less than 10 minutes a game in the Lakers’ first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.
It was clear that a surplus of big men in Los Angeles was an over-investment and Harrell can now either opt-in to run it back or locate a fresh start — preferably in another conference. The Miami Heat should rank high above those choices for Harrell.