The Los Angeles Lakers have been among the more active teams early into free agency, with their first move being a reported agreement with Wesley Matthew on a one-year contract.
There then appeared to be a deal with Dwight Howard, as he tweeted about re-signing with the Lakers. However, Howard quickly deleted that and shortly after went on to sign a one-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers.
In need of a backup center, the Lakers reportedly turned their focus to Marc Gasol. While something could still come to fruition there, L.A. has used their midlevel exception to sign Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell to a two-year contract, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Two years, $19M-plus for Harrell, Paul says. Lakers use mid-level exception on former Clippers center. https://t.co/LGgEkDaHN6
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Harrell is coming off the best season of his career and was among key free agents the L.A. Clippers had. Although Harrell struggled in the playoffs, he averaged career-bests 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds this past season.
Those dropped 10.5 points and 2.9 rebounds, respectively, in the playoffs. Harrell missed all eight of the seeding games and only averaged 18.7 minutes per game in the playoffs. He led the NBA in double-doubles off the bench (11) and tied for the most 30-plus-point games off the bench (four).
Lakers, Clippers hallway exchange?
The Lakers hadn’t been connected to any Clippers free agents prior to Harrell’s reported signing, but indications were Rajon Rondo was considering a move down the hall at Staples Center.
In addition to the Clippers, the Atlanta Hawks were reported as being interested in the veteran point guard.
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