Los Angeles Lakers: Why Montrezl Harrell should opt-in this summer

Montrezl Harrell‘s season with the Los Angeles Lakers was an interesting one. Before he even stepped on the floor for the Lakers, Harrell was viewed as a massive steal for Rob Pelinka and the team. The Lakers signed Harrell with the mid-level exception, which was not expected throughout the league.

Harrell was coming off of a season in which he was the runner-up for Sixth Man of the Year and proved to be a dominant force down low for the Los Angeles Clippers. However, he had a terrible defensive series against Nikola Jokic that raised some question marks.

To be fair, most players look really bad against Jokic and while nobody was arguing that Harrell was an elite defender, it is safe to say that there were expectations for him to improve on that side of the court.

The improvements were not as stark as the coaching staff would have hoped. Harrell piled up the DNPs down the stretch and was even removed from the playoff rotation until Anthony Davis was hurt. With Harrell having a player option in his contract, and this fall from grace, it became a safe assumption that he would opt-out of his deal.

However, Montrezl Harrell should shockingly do the opposite and opt-in with the Los Angeles Lakers.

This is more than just wishful thinking. The Lakers could definitely use Harrell next season. Despite his shortcomings, the team does not have many options to add players. Harrell moves them closer to the tax apron but gives them another roster spot that they do not have to fill with a minimum contract.

There are legitimate reasons for Harrell to opt-in with the Lakers and give it one more go in the purple and gold. These are the things that he and his camp are going to have to weigh this summer.