3 best deals on first day of 2020 NBA free agency
By Mike Luciano
1. Montrezl Harrell, Los Angeles Lakers: 2 years, $19 million
Yes, Montrezl Harrell might not be the best defender in the world, a trait that could come back to bite the Los Angeles Lakers considering that their ace interior defender in Dwight Howard left them for the Philadelphia 76ers this offseason.
However, the Lakers just pulled off something truly unprecedented, as they managed to convince the reigning Sixth Man of the Year to leave a championship contender and join their biggest rival for the Mid-Level Exception. While the Rich Paul connection certainly helped, Rob Pelinka deserves a huge gold star for being able to convince Harrell to swap locker rooms in LA.
Fresh off getting the Sixth Man of the Year runner-up in Dennis Schroder, the Lakers managed to pull in the gold medalist in Harrell, who averaged 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, all the while helping fill the void in their second unit after Howard’s departure. This deal tops the list not only because of the discount Harrell took to join the Lakers, but how backbreaking it was for the Clippers. Not only did Harrell swap red, white, and blue for purple and gold, but the Clips were forced to give Marcus Morris $64 million over four years in order to compensate. Kawhi Leonard’s path to another championship just got even harder.
Next. Steven Adams was traded to the Pelicans. dark