4. San Antonio Spurs
Notice a trend yet? The teams that are most likely to lure Harrell away from the Los Angeles Lakers are mediocre basketball teams that have cap space. Most contenders do not have the cap space for Harrell and if they do they are spending it on a bigger fish.
Again, cap space might not even matter at the end of the day with the MLE. And while that opens the door for Harrell to theoretically sign with another contender, after seeing how he was handled in both Los Angeles teams, it is hard to see a true contender convincing itself that Harrell will add some new dynamic to the team.
That can change over time if Harrell goes to a mediocre team and puts up big numbers. Again, these teams are looking at this signing for more than just the player. They are looking at the future trade chip as well.
The San Antonio Spurs have the cap space to spend this offseason and like the other teams on this list, they are not really a favorable destination for any big-name free agents. DeMar DeRozan is most likely gone and the Spurs could use some size in the frontcourt at a reasonable price. Enter Harrell.
If there is any coach that is going to get the most out of Harrell on both ends of the floor it is Gregg Popovich and perhaps this would be a career move for Harrell. Sign a short-term deal with San Antonio, learn from Pop, put up big numbers and then get flipped to a contender at some point.
Then he will be putting up valuable minutes on a big stage to increase his value instead of decreasing, which is what the big stage did for him in this year’s playoffs.