Portland Trail Blazers Draft Profile: Montrezl Harrell

Fit with the Roster

Montrezl Harrell’s smallish, but lengthy frame, mobility, strength, and athleticism (basically his physical gifts) lead one to believe that he can fit at either the center or power forward position in the NBA. For the Blazers, with both their starting center, Robin Lopez, and star power forward, LaMarcus Aldridge entering free agency in a few weeks, the value is clear.

The best scenario for Harrell is probably one in which Aldridge returns, and the Blazers also sign a starting center, whether that be by retaining Robin Lopez, or by considering ways to upgrade such as DeAndre Jordan or Tyson Chandler.

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In that scenario, Harrell’s role is limited and the pressure is low.  He would be able to come in off the bench and provide energy by running the floor and crashing the offensive boards.

He would also be a great fit alongside the Blazers newly developed stretch center, Meyers Leonard.  As Leonard continued to prove that his elite shooting was not a fluke as the season wore on, he offered greater versatility in the lineups the Blazers could use.  Leonard ended the season in the elite 50/40/90 club slapping a .510/.420/.938 on the board, according to Basketball Reference.

Leonard may not have taken the volume of someone like Stephen Curry (of course, nobody in history has combined the volume and efficiency that Curry has), but he was an elite shooter from all areas of the floor last season. Combining that with Harrell’s ability in transition and rebounding and that’s a very solid bench frontcourt.

Of course, the opposite scenario for Harrell would be if Aldridge leaves in free agency and the Blazers have a giant LaMarcus-sized hole at the power forward position.  This scenario is less than ideal for Harrell.

Harrell may be saved from the starting lineup if the Blazers can patch it with the aforementioned Leonard and Robin Lopez (and that’s even assuming Lopez is brought back if Aldridge leaves), but he’d still be relied upon heavily to supplement the front court rotation.

That would be a lot of pressure on Harrell to produce offensively and defensively before he’s probably ready for that type of responsibility.

If Aldridge leaves, it would open up all kinds of hypotheticals for how the Blazers would rebuild their front court, and maybe some of those would be productive for Harrell’s development, but I think the best case scenario is that Montrezl Harrell is a solid role player with a specific skill set that can be used to build on a fringe title contending core.

Of course, the Blazers have been down this road before. It wasn’t during the draft, but they’ve gone out and brought in a player that they hoped could play a role for them, provide some energy, youth, and athleticism, and help get them over the hump from very good to legitimately dangerous.

That didn’t work out so well and maybe it gives the Blazers some pause when they consider Harrell at 23.

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