King James Gospel
Fansided

The Cleveland Cavaliers should sign Montrezl Harrell to an offer sheet

By Dan Gilinsky

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 11: Head Coach Doc Rivers and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers talk during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 11, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 11: Head Coach Doc Rivers and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers talk during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 11, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 3
Next
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 11: Head Coach Doc Rivers and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers talk during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 11, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA – APRIL 11: Head Coach Doc Rivers and Montrezl Harrell #5 of the LA Clippers talk during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on April 11, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Harrell is an all-around athlete

He plays much bigger than his height (6’8″) on both ends of the floor as a putback opportunist and help side shot blocker, and could be a great running mate next to the floor-spacing Kevin Love, and as a rim runner in Collin Sexton or George Hill screen-and-rolls.

He brings much more of an offensive scoring punch than either Nance or Thompson, and has better lateral quickness to stay in front of perimeter threats, and makes plays similar to Nance in passing lanes leading to man-advantage breaks going the other way.

This guy, simply put, is a grinder that is going to make winning plays, and make his presence felt in every game. He would be a fan favorite in Cleveland and would mesh nicely with other pieces like the ultra-competitive Sexton and the gritty Osman.

It appears that the restricted free agent’s market is somehow dormant thus far, other than the Clips hoping to bring him back, per Broderick Turner of the LA Times (h/t Ryan Snellings of Clipperholics).

Given that the Clips are likely focused on next summer’s huge free agent pool of Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, and others, it might allow a team such as Cleveland to at least sign Harrell to an offer sheet, perhaps of the one-year “prove-it” variety, and at least put the pressure on L.A. to match it.

That could be a good use of Cleveland’s $8.641 million non-taxpayer mid-level exception (per Spotrac). Cleveland needs to start finding ways to combat Thompson’s lack of offensive ability, and signing Harrell while shopping Thompson is a good move.

He won’t need to play a ton of minutes but will bring tons of energy and some two-way effectiveness in his 18 or so minutes per contest to spell Nance.

Sorry TT, you might not blossom into an All-Star if the 24-year old Harrell is on the roster making better use of your inefficient minutes. If this one-year experiment works out well, then maybe Harrell can be a more permanent part of Cleveland’s plan.