Sixers

NBA Finals Confirmed with Montrezl Harrell Returning to Sixers on a One-Year Deal

By Kevin Kinkead

Published: Jul 7th, 2023 · 8:55 AM EDT

---

Well we did not see this one coming:

Free agent F Montrezl Harrell has agreed on a one-year deal to return to the Philadelphia 76ers, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2023

This comes a few weeks after Harrell had reportedly declined his $2.7 million player option, making him a free agent. Little quirk there, however. Apparently his veteran minimum this season is $2.89 million, explained by Yossi Gozlan at Hoops Hype:

“Montrezl Harrell’s player option amount he declined was $2.76M. His veteran minimum this year is $2.89M thanks to the cap rising. The Sixers would’ve had a $2.76M cap hit in their books had he opted in. Instead his new salary this year will only count as $2.02M.”

But that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that the Sixers now have three Joel Embiid backups on the roster and everybody is shitting bricks about Paul Reed’s status. With Mo Bamba in the fold, we thought it would be a Reed/Bamba platoon to spell Joel, with some opportunities for Nick Nurse to go double bigs and/or experiment with Reed at the four. Harrell’s re-introduction throws a Foo Fighters monkey wrench into this whole thing.

For what it’s worth, the last Paul Reed report came from Mike Scotta, who noted that the Sixers would be extending a qualifying offer to the restricted free agent. That allows Reed to test the waters and gauge league-wide interest, so all we can do on that front and wait if a BBall Paul market materializes.

Harrell is a weird one though, because he played 57 games last season but only appeared twice in the playoffs and fell down the depth chart. Even if Reed leaves, Harrell has Bamba to contend with for minutes, so it just feels strange that he would want to be here at all.

Daryl Morey, explain yourself. This better not be linked to some Harden nonsense.