[Old General Record] After the sixth person, the person who died quickly!

As the second round pick in 2015, the 31-year-old big man in the frontcourt, the best sixth man in the 2019-20 season, this should have been a pretty golden time point in terms of immediate combat ability and player age, but unexpectedly, he was given up by the league just four years after winning the best sixth man.

This is the trajectory of Monteritz-Harrell. To look back on his career, we need to start from his starting point.

Harrell was born in a family of nine. His father was a sports fan, so he began to be exposed to various sports since he was a child. However, due to his parents' divorce, Harrell was mainly cared for by his grandmother. His grandmother not only supported him fully, but also bought a lot of basketball supplies for him, becoming an enlightenment guide for his basketball career.

Harrell grew up in Talborough, North Carolina, a small town with a population of only 10,000 people. The most famous athlete in the local area is rugby player Kevin Bryant. Thanks to the star effect, rugby has also become the most popular sport in the local area. Harrell is no exception. He was a well-known local football player in high school and was even considered to have the potential to become an outstanding NFL player.

However, it was such a potential rugby player who ultimately chose to give up rugby and focus on basketball. There are two reasons behind this decision: one is his grandmother and the other is his friend Todd Goully.

According to Harrell's recollection, although he had a very high talent in rugby, the high school he attended was at the lowest level in the local league. His friend Todd Goulley is in high school competition, and Todd's talent in football is far better than Harrell, which also made Harrell realize that "there are people outside of people". He finally decided to change the track and chose the basketball track that Todd has the advantage of crushing.

By the way, Todd Guli successfully became an NFL player and once won the Best Offensive Player and Best Offensive Rookie in the Tournament.

Another reason is also important, raising Harrell to grow up and encourage his grandmother who works in basketball to be blind due to illness, which also made Harrell finally decide to choose basketball because it was the biggest connection between him and his grandmother.

Although he is not tall, with his explosiveness and mobility beyond his peers, Harrell immediately became the main force of the team after two years of formal training. After transferring to a higher-intensity high school, his performance was still impressive. In his senior year, he averaged 25.2 points, 13.6 rebounds and 3 blocks per game, led the team to win the interstate championship, received many scholarships from basketball colleges and universities, and finally Harrell chose to go to the University of Louisville.

It is enough to see from the content of the draft report at that time that although Harrell has excellent athletic ability and the 224 wingspan condition also provides him with a large enough defensive range, because his height is only 201, this also makes it questionable whether he can be competent in the frontcourt No. 4 position in the NBA in the future.

In addition, since Harrell started his basketball late, his dribbling breakthrough and outside shooting ability are relatively weak. Although he has been working hard to develop mid-range projections for three years in college, this skill is difficult to become a stable weapon in more intense games, which basically cuts off his chances of transforming into a No. 3 position in the future.

Perhaps some people may have questions: Since it is the era of small balls, why can't such small insiders rely on speed to gain an advantage?

In fact, although the height requirements for inside players in the small ball era have been reduced, the requirements for ability have been higher. High-level support, low-level singles, outside projection, empty-cut score, assisted defense awareness, pick-and-roll screen, etc. The more skills you have, you will get more opportunities. However, for Harrell, in addition to the empty cut score and some support and screening potential, Harrell performed mediocrely in other aspects, which is why he fell to the 32nd pick in the second round in the 2015 draft before being selected by the Rockets. In the 2015-16 season, the Rockets were in the restructuring stage, and there were strong inside players such as Howard and Capela in the team. Realizing that he might not be able to get too many opportunities to play, Harrell took the initiative to propose to the coach the idea of going to the Development League to hone his skills. During the Development League period, Harrell seized the opportunity to score impressive data of 24.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game. Although he still has shortcomings, it at least proves that he is ready to move towards the next stage.

The following season, the Rockets exchanged for coach D'Antoni, who is good at fast-paced and small-ball tactics. Under the training of this offensive master, Harrell began to become a key role on the bench. His playing time doubled from 9 minutes in the rookie year to 18 minutes, and his average score average also increased from 3.6 points to 9.1 points.

And just when everyone thought Harrell was about to take off under D'Antoni, he became the bargaining chip for the Rockets to trade Paul and was sent to the Clippers. What was unexpected was that this seemingly abandoned deal became a chance for Harrell to explode.

It is not difficult to see from D'Antoni's interview at that time that he was quite reluctant to leave Harrell. Originally, everyone thought the Clippers would enter the reconstruction period after trading Paul, but under the guidance of coach Rivers, these role players integrated unexpected results and led the Clippers, who had no stars, to score 42 wins and 40 losses, a dark horse season that far exceeded expectations and had a winning rate of over 50%.

As for D'Antoni's reluctant love, Harrell burst out with amazing energy in this civilian team. Although the average playing time per game has decreased slightly compared to last season, the average score has increased to 11 points instead of decreasing.

In the 2018-19 season, the Clippers continued their style of a civilian team. Without ace stars, relying on the outstanding substitute performance of Harrell and Lvway, the Clippers played the league's first substitute firepower and successfully entered the playoffs..

But the 76ers at this time were completely different from the Clippers back then. The team had established an offensive system with center Embiid as the core, and Harrell's role was quite limited. Especially his defensive shortcomings have led to him being unable to serve as Embiid's stable substitute, and Rivers is more inclined to use George Nyan and PJ Tucker. Their defensive and outside projection value can create more space for Embiid.

In the season, Harrell only scored 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds, which was completely different from three years ago. Perhaps because he realized that his former mentor could not give him room to play, Harrell finally decided to jump out of the contract and try the waters in the free market.

But due to the sharp decline in data and its poor reputation in recent years, Harrell has no interest in the free market. In the end, he had to sign 76 people again to seek new opportunities with a one-year basic salary contract. However, the God of Fate did not intend to give him a chance.

In off-season training, Harrell's right knee anterior cruciate ligament and medial meniscus tear, which is undoubtedly a major blow to a player who is good at physical fitness, because no one can guarantee whether he can recover after the operation. After the injury, 76ers quickly cut him off.

The successive blows directly caused Harrell to fall into a low point. Even if he recovered, the negative records and external doubts in the past remained unavoidable, which eventually led to him losing his only chance. At the golden age of the player, he had to choose to go to overseas leagues to work hard.

Perhaps after experiencing this series of hardships, Harrell finally saw his shortcomings clearly. Even though he is only 31 years old now, it is basically unlikely to return to the NBA. Perhaps he is still looking for the last chance for his basketball career, but as he said:

"When everything is settled, I just want to be able to look at myself in the mirror and see someone who deserves pride."