Los Angeles Lakers need Montrezl Harrell now more than ever

Montrezl Harrell isn’t making a compelling case to earn a second consecutive Sixth Man of the Year trophy in his first season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Heading into Monday night’s game against the Golden State Warriors, he was averaging three-year lows of 13.9 points and 6.4 rebounds a night.

Of course, the decrease in production compared to last season (18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds per game) is largely a function of responsibilities that have been removed from his shoulders. Harrell was the third-leading scorer for the LA Clippers and tasked with co-powering the highest-scoring bench unit in the league alongside Lou Williams.

On a fully-healthy Lakers team, Harrell isn’t relied upon as much. His minutes are down and he doesn’t close games. But that health hasn’t been present for over a month now. So Harrell has reached back into his past on several occasions during this stretch.

He scored 26 in the loss to Washington. With LeBron James among those sidelined for rest just before the All-Star break, Harrell did all he could to try and earn a victory against the Kings by posting 26 points and 12 rebounds, including seven at the offensive end.

In the absence of two rotational big men, the Los Angeles Lakers need Montrezl Harrell to turn his play up a notch as he did against Golden State.

In a blowout victory over the Warriors, Harrell absolutely tortured Golden State’s big men to the tune of a team-high 27 points in just 25 minutes. He hit his first seven shots before finishing 11-of-14 from the field. He also chipped in five rebounds and three steals and hit five of his six free-throw attempts.

With only so many Lakers capable of putting the ball in the basket, having someone do exactly that with such ease was a welcome sight for the league’s 17th-ranked offense. Harrell has never been about creating his own offense. He’s simply adept at quickly profiting off the playmaking of others with timely cuts and tough finishes similar to the one below.

“He catches everything, he finishes everything,” Frank Vogel said of Harrell after the game.

Once viewed as a position of strength with a trio of quality options, the Lakers’ center position has developed into a bit of a mess early into the second half of the season.

Anthony Davis, the ultimate go-to in the middle, hasn’t played since Feb. 14 while dealing with a calf injury and will be re-evaluated in another two weeks. Marc Gasol is currently unavailable after entering the league’s health and safety protocols before the All-Star break. His Lakers tenure hasn’t fully gone as expected — they’re worse at both ends with him on the court — which explains the rumors connecting LA to Andre Drummond.

A clean bill of health is necessary for the Lakers to even have a chance at repeating as champions. That much is obvious with a player as impactful as Davis and even Gasol when he’s right. In the interim, however, they must make do with what’s available to establish consistency and maintain a favorable spot in the Western Conference standings.

Rob Pelinka has done what he can to provide any type of size in the present by signing Damian Jones to multiple 10-day contracts days after he was waived by the Phoenix Suns. That relationship has bred some positives but has ultimately been a non-factor.

By the time most teams hit the waiver wire in an attempt to solve their issues, there’s a certain level of panic that sets in. That isn’t the case for the Lakers because it doesn’t have to be. All they have to do is turn inward towards a guy who knows a thing or two about stepping up when called upon.

“He’s been a great culture fit with our group…,” Vogel said. “He’s very well-liked in our locker room… and he really commits to trying to get it right.”