NBA veteran Montrezl Harrell has found a new home.
Agreeing going unsigned this offseason, the eight-year veteran has “agreed to a deal with the Adelaide 36ers,” per ESPN insider Olgun Uluc. Harrell “will be an injury replacement for Jarell Martin,” who “is still recovering from a patellar tendon injury and isn’t expected to be available until later in the year.”
As a result, “Harrell will be on a short-term deal… but there’s potential for him to remain with the team even when Martin is healthy. The 36ers would need to deactivate a local player in order to accommodate that.”
Harrell beat out a shortlist of potential additions —former NBA forwards Justin Jackson and Thon Maker among them —to latch on with Adelaide.
Montrezl Harrell Looks To Put Troubles Behind Him With NBL Deal
Harrell hasn’t played an NBA game since Apr. 2023.
This may seem strange for someone who was named the Sixth Man of the Year in 2020. At 30 years old, he’s not exactly entering the prime of his basketball career. Nonetheless, players don’t typically decline rapidly after they peak.
Harrell, who averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in his award-winning season, is no exception. That’s what made him averaging just 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 2022-23 —his lone season with the Philadelphia 76ers —inexplicable. When considering that he posted 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game as a starter that season, it’s even more difficult to fathom.
Yet, Harrell’s compelling article for The Player’s Tribune shines a light on his downward spiral. He’s always been a vocal and passionate player. However, he didn’t channel his energy properly after his grandmother passed away.
He lashed out at former Los Angeles Clippers teammate Paul George in the NBA Bubble, burning a bridge there. Two years later, while with the Charlotte Hornets, he was given a citation for marijuana possession. Even without the headlines being sensationalized, it was a bad look at a bad time. The next year, he and Sixers head coach Nick Nurse bumped heads about his usage.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Harrell tore his ACL and meniscus last offseason. He would then miss all of 2023-24 while rehabbing.
Are His NBA Days Finished?
Like many players whose career took a turn for the worst, Harrell still wants to return to the NBA. Understandably, the warrior would rather go out on his shield.
“I realized I’m not ready to hang this game up — and I have a lot of game left in me. Having a tough season, blowing out my knee … I can’t accept that ending, man. That can’t be what people remember me by.”
He may get that chance. DeMarcus Cousins, a player once described as a headcase because of his misplaced passion, received several chances. Teams even offered him roles after he suffered multiple injuries.
Cousins has since retired from the NBA, believing that teams refuse to sign him because of his misperceptions about his personality. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem like Harrell has quite gotten to that point. Depending on how well he plays during his NBL stint, he could be back in the NBA by next season.
