Montrezl Harrell‘s late grandmother was on his mind when he accepted the Sixth Man of the Year award, writes Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Harrell left the Disney World campus for nearly a month when she died earlier this summer, returning just in time for the start of the playoffs.
“This is for my grandmother, who is not here with me today and isn’t going to be able to see this,” he said. “She isn’t going to be able to see me do something that she instilled in me as a young child, a game that she brought to my attention as a young man and I fell in love with and worked my tail off at.”
Harrell is the first big man in nearly a decade to capture Sixth Man honors. Heading into unrestricted free agency, he posted career highs this season with 18.6 PPG and 7.1 RPG. He recalls a conversation with coach Doc Rivers shortly after the Rockets traded him to L.A. in 2017.
“From day one, coach told me that this is not one of those things that we kind of just did to package this,” Harrell said. “‘No, we want you here. We’ve seen you play. We know the type of intensity and motor that you bring to the game. This isn’t one of those things that you’re going to be coming here and leaving back out. We want you here.’ To hear the head coach of an organization say you don’t have anything to worry about, you can get comfortable here, and this is a team that wants you, it means a lot.”
There’s more Clippers news to pass along:
- The award was presented to Harrell by teammate Lou Williams, who won it the past two seasons, Buha adds in the same story. A three-time winner overall, Williams finished third in this year’s voting. “For him to come out and just hand me the trophy, it was special,” Harrell said. “It was a huge surprise. … To see that trophy come out from the back and actually coming towards me, it was a tremendous honor and just a complete, complete tremendous thank you to my teammates, to Doc and Lou, everybody.”
- The Clippers need a strong performance from center Ivica Zubac, who is the only player on the roster who can match up physically with Denver’s Nikola Jokic, observes Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. Zubac had 15 points and nine rebounds in Saturday’s loss, but he remained on the bench late in the game as L.A. opted to use a smaller lineup.
- Game 2 exposed bad habits that have plagued the Clippers all season, writes Brian Windhorst of ESPN. L.A. showed little energy to start the game and trailed by 19 points after the first quarter.
Knicks don’t target Harrell and Joe Harris
If Knicks can’t sign VanVleet they are not likely to make playoffs.
If Knicks offer 2 years 50 million to Dragic,……
knicks will need to over pay to bring in a player. Vanfleet is not going to make a big difference on the team. Knicks need a few more years to rebuild.
VanFleet might help the Knicks get to the playoffs, but that is it. How about for once the Knicks stop try taking short cuts and signing overpaid guys and actually try and build a contender properly.
You just said 20 million for Dragic yesterday.
Knicks aren’t going to make the playoffs next year no matter what.
Knicks don’t need another undersized PF.
At least they still have the Dodgers and maybe the Rams too.
better than OKC who just watch their only pro team go down.
Lakers are not eliminated yet contrary to what you may think.
Both series are tied at 1-1. The Lakers won a must-win game after the Rockets fell apart in the 4th quarter.
Serious question. If Rockets lose to Lakers. Would you be willing to move Westbrook. As a Rocket fan give me your feedback.
To Sixers for Harris, Scott (1yr left on contract), plus 2 second rd picks this yr. Rockets don’t have picks. Second rd picks don’t have to be guaranteed past two yrs. Sixers have #34 n #36 picks. There will be two rotation bigs there for sure. Makes Rockets younger and deeper. Harris is a 20 pt scorer as a big forward. Good reb too. Younger (27) than Westbrook.
Udoka Azubuike a nice C from Kansas. And
Isaiah Stewart a PF from Washington. Both very nice bigs. Or even a stretch 4 Nnajii will be there. You get two of these three guys. That’s excellent value. One of them you should get. Rockets with Harris can still play same offense. But now have young bigs so are deeper. Nigerian C could be a beast lol. Makes both teams better imo.
Plus remember you also have ME to sign a player next yr.
Sizers will have 2 high priced guards who can’t shoot the 3 all that well.
Not a must win game. Teams adjust from game to game. Now its up to the coaches to find success on what works. Rockets will not win if their shooting goes cold like in the 4th quarter. That is the problem with the rockets if they don’t hit 3s they lose.
If Clippers let Green and Jackson walk for nothing
Clippers projected salary 154 million
Lower than 76ers
According to cba rules
Can the Clippers offer 3 years $30 million to Reggie Jackson?
Are you joking?