Most surprising Los Angeles Lakers: 1. Montrezl Harrell
Montrezl Harrell was a great signing by Rob Pelinka in the offseason and it is safe to say that every single Laker fans were excited. Harrell was the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year behind current teammate Dennis Schroder last season and he was adding a scoring presence to the bench that was not there last season.
Nobody was doubting the impact Harrell would have as a bruiser down low. He has that dog-mentality that represents an old-school style of basketball and it has been a great new dynamic to add to the Lakers.
The area that many fans should have been concerned about was his defense. Harrell was, quite frankly, exposed by Nikola Jokic in the NBA Playoffs last season and as a defensive-first team, it was okay to be concerned about how Harrell would hold up with the Lakers.
Heck, early in the season these concerns were highlighted. Harrell was exposed on his pick-and-roll defense by Damian Lillard and Jusuf Nurkic and many Laker fans expressed their desire for Harrell not to be in the crunch time lineup.
The Blazers relentlessly attacked Montrezl Harrell late in the fourth to hold onto their lead over the Lakers.
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnorNBA) December 29, 2020
It didn't go well for Trez... pic.twitter.com/3WoDqS2i36
Harrell has really turned his defense around and has not had any terrible instances like the one above. In fact, statistically, Harrell has been a positive defender for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harrell has a 0.4 Defensive Box Plus/Minus and has accumulated 1.3 Defensive Win Shares, the third most on the Lakers. He is not someone who is going to shut down a big man, but he has held his own and I do feel better about his defense than I did before the season.
I still worry about what could happen in a playoff series against Denver or Philly if Marc Gasol gets hurt or in early foul trouble. The way it is trending, though, Harrell should be just fine.