Montrezl Harrell on choosing Lakers: “This is the team that wanted me”

The Los Angeles Lakers have made a flurry of new free agency signings after players like Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, and Dwight Howard chose situations that promised them more money and/or playing time. Those new players include Wes Matthews and Marc Gasol, while the Lakers also traded with the Thunder to bring in Dennis Schröder to give the Lakers a little bit of a facelift. That’s not all that the team added, as possibly the most surprising part of the Lakers’ free agency so far is none other than Montrezl Harrell, who the Lakers signed late in the opening night of free agency.

Not only are the Lakers getting a young, explosive big for LeBron James and others to throw lobs to, but to add to the excitement, they essentially stole him from their hallway rivals, the Clippers. Montrezl Harrell was asked about his choice to don the purple-and-gold in lieu of the blue-white-and-red, saying that his family wanted him to be with the Lakers and that the option to join the team materialized “fairly quickly” (all per Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll).

“This is the team that wanted me… I’m really honored and blessed to be here.”

Harrell had a pretty short and simple answer as to whether or not the Clippers wanted him, saying the following:

Trezz was asked if he felt like the Clippers wanted him.

“Apparently not, if I’m on the other side. That’s what it is, really.”

— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) November 23, 2020

It seems as though that his run with the Clippers came to an abrupt and possibly testy end. It remains to be seen how the Clippers fans ultimately feel about him, as his effort (specifically on the defensive end) was questioned in the bubble playoffs. I tried to poll some Clippers fans to see how they felt but…I couldn’t find any.

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what the Clippers organization or their fans think. Trezz is a Laker, and will look to strengthen an offense that already had LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

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