Los Angeles Clippers’ forward Montrezl Harrell has shown striking similarities to former Denver Nuggets big man Kenneth Faried.
Montrezl Harrell scored 15 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night. His performance in what turned out to be a blowout loss for Denver brought something to mind that I’ve noticed from watching Harrell over the past two years… his game strongly resembles that of former Nuggets big man Kenneth Faried.
Trust me. Harrell, who on Friday won the NBA’s 2019-20 Sixth Man of the Year award, doesn’t just have striking similarities to “The Manimal” because of his luscious dreadlocks.
Like Faried, Harrell entered the league as a 22-year-old, undersized power forward. However, while Harrell was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 32nd overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, Faried was selected 22nd overall by Denver in the 2011 NBA Draft.
In two seasons with the Rockets, Harrell played just 14.9 minutes per game, with averages of 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds per game. Then, in the summer of 2017, Harrell — among other pieces — was shipped to the Los Angeles Clippers in a blockbuster deal that sent future Hall of Fame point guard Chris Paul to Houston.
Despite playing in a frontcourt that featured Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris, Harrell averaged a career-high 11.0 points and 4.0 rebounds during the 2017-18 campaign.
During the 2018-19 season, playing for an overachieving Clippers squad that pushed the Golden State Warriors to six games in the first round of the playoffs, Harrell averaged 15.7 points and 1.6 assists before the Clippers sent Harris to Philadelphia. He averaged 18.5 points and 2.7 assists after the Harris trade.
It was also Faried’s age-24 season when he emerged as an impact player for the Nuggets. In fact, after averaging a career-high 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds for Denver during the 2013-14 season, Faried helped Team USA win the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.
During the tournament, Faried averaged 12.4 points and a team-high 7.8 rebounds, earning himself a spot on the All-Tournament team alongside teammate and tournament MVP Kyrie Irving.
Faried also dropped a career-high 34 points against the New Orleans Pelicans that season.
Strangely enough, Harrell’s career-high is also 34 points. He recorded that career-high this season, also against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Unsurprisingly, Faried’s play earned him a five-year, $60 million contract extension, and Denver’s future looked bright just three years removed from trading away superstar forward Carmelo Anthony. Unfortunately, Faried regressed over the next two years, averaging fewer points per game while his rebound and assist averages plateaued.
During the 2016-17 season, primarily due to the emergence of Nikola Jokic, Faried started the fewest games of his career that year. After one more abysmal season in Denver, Faried was traded to the Brooklyn Nets to clear cap space.
If there is one lesson teams should take away from this, it’s that they should not overpay a player that does not have a bankable skill. While Faried was a blur in transition and routinely one of the most active rebounders in the league (top-12 in offensive rebound percentage every year from 2012-2016), he lacked an ability to create his own shot.
60.0% of Faried’s career shot attempts have come within three feet of the basket, he didn’t offer much as a playmaker and despite being a high-flying power forward, Faried was an average positional defender.
Harrell is a great offensive rebounder as well (ranked 26th in offensive rebound percentage last season and 13th this year), and thrives in his role with the Clippers. However, as teams decide whether to break the bank for Harrell during the upcoming offseason with an underwhelming free agent class, let this be a warning.
Teams should be wary of making Harrell the focal point of a team’s offense or defense and, for both Harrell and the organization’s sake, he should remain in with the Clippers.
With them, he’ll will continue to thrive as a player and will continue to compete for championships for years to come.