Getty Montrezl Harrell #5 of the Philadelphia 76ers.
When the Philadelphia 76ers signed Montrezl Harrell at the end of the summer, the move was hailed as the latest in a string of brilliant offseason moves by the front office. His career 12.7 points and five rebounds per game were thought to go a long way toward giving Joel Embiid a legitimate backup so that the superstar would stay fresh for the postseason. Oh, and his former Sixth Man of the Year award didn’t hurt, either.
Unfortunately, the Sixers haven’t quite gotten what they bargained for from Harrell yet. Through the first seven games, the former Louisville Cardinal is averaging career-lows in points (2.7), rebounds (1.3), and field goal percentage (46.2%). Of course, he’s also averaging fewer than 10 minutes per game, also the lowest of his career.
The rocky start is leaving fans wondering whether Harrell truly is the answer at backup center. And on Sunday morning, Harrell took to Twitter to drop a cryptic message amid the rotation questions.
“Time to do some heavy soul searching!,” Harrell tweeted.
Time to do some heavy soul searching!
If Harrell isn’t the answer at backup center, the Sixers have a few other options to choose from.
Paul Reed, PJ Tucker Could Be Center Options for 76ers
Let’s start with the obvious: Paul Reed is on the roster and champing at the bit. What Montrezl Harrell lacks in athleticism and defense, Reed supplies with ease. The only downside? Reed is a work on progress on the other end of the floor. But could Reed’s offensive inefficiencies be masked by the Sixers’ otherwise strong scorers in James Harden and Tyrese Maxey?
Unlikely, at least for now. Reed is probably better served by playing on an ad hoc basis, with Rivers deploying him against teams that can throw multiple athletic wings against the oft-stiff Sixers side. Will Rivers do that? He certainly did not against the Toronto Raptors, which feature as many rangy wings as any in the league.
But what about Door Number Three? If Reed and Harrell are too far on opposite ends of the spectrum, could the Sixers turn towards their 37-year-old Doberman PJ Tucker? So far this season, this “small ball” line-up has worked masterfully. In the albeit small sample size of 69 possessions with Tucker at center, the Sixers are outscoring opponents by 23.5 points per game, giving up just 105.5, which ranks in the 99th percentile of NBA lineups.
Of course, there is serious concern about adding too much tread to Tucker’s aging tires. More than anything, Philadelphia will need Tucker come playoff time to battle the likes of Giannis Antetounmpo and Kevin Durant.
So for now, the onus falls on Reed and Harrell to battle it out for the backup spot.
Doc Rivers Speaks on Reed versus Harrell Debate
At the very least, Doc Rivers knows what he has in his two backup bigs.
“I actually like Trez more with James (Harden) because Trez knows how to play off James a little bit better offensively. I like Paul Reed defensively. So that’s what we’re calling,” Rivers said, per Ky Carlin of SixersWire.
Time will tell what role Reed ultimately settles into. While Harrell is clearly the top option at backup center, his 9.6 points per game must look immense to Reed, who’s played in just four minutes this whole season. It’s still early, though, and Rivers might need to keep experimenting with the rotation to save his job.