How Montrezl Harrell Can Become Houston Rockets' Next Secret Success Story

Montrezl Harrell, the Houston Rockets' second-round pick taken 32nd in this year’s draft, might not be the league’s next superstar. He might not even see much time with the mothership this year. But he landed in the right organization to become a longtime NBA player.

He has the physical tools.

Only 6’7” without shoes, according to NBA.com, he has a condor-like 7’4.25” wingspan. That 9.25-inch difference is greater than any differential to be found in the history of the official NBA draft combine at DraftExpress.

He’s a high-motor player who likes to do things like this:

Following his first summer league game, in which he scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds en route to leading the Rockets to a 108-89 victory over the Phoenix Suns, Harrell addressed the initial disappointment of dropping to the second round in a postgame interview with NBA TV (h/t Kyle Williams, The Courier Journal):

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That's out the window now. All of us who got drafted are rookies now, and we're all out there trying to prove ourselves and feel like we belong in this league. I'm just trying to do something to make sure the Rockets see that I've got a niche that is going to keep me in the organization for a long time.

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What will it take for him to go from a raw talent to being that “niche” player he wants to be?

The Road to Houston

If they retain free agent Josh Smith, the Rockets will have three starting-caliber power forwards, including Donatas Motiejunas and Terrence Jones. Sophomore Kostas Papanikolaou, who plays both forward positions, is also on the NBA roster.

They developed all of them but Smith. They’ve also helped second-round picks Chandler Parsons and Chase Budinger to become NBA players. Houston has a good track record. That’s the good news.

The bad news for Harrell is there’s all that depth to overcome, and as a result he likely won’t see much of Space City this season. More likely, he’ll start at the same place both of last year’s rookies, Clint Capela and Nick Johnson, spent last season: the Rockets’ D-League affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

Arguably more than any team, Houston uses the NBA’s version of the minors as a place to develop their players. That’s the crazy outside-the-box thinking for which general manger Daryl Morey is known. The bright lights and glamor might not be there, but it’s been accelerating growth for their kids.

In 2013-14, they called up Troy Daniels from Rio Grande Valley, and the sharpshooter contributed a game-winner during the playoffs. Last year, it was Capela, whose 21.89 player efficiency rating, as recorded at Basketball-Reference.com, made him a valuable postseason contributor.

Harrell will probably spend most, if not all, of his season there.

Embracing the Journey

Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress detailed Harrell’s shortcomings:

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Despite drawing comparisons to the likes of Kenneth Faried, Harrell is not a particularly gifted defensive rebounder, averaging just 6.4 per-40 minutes over the course of his Louisville career, a figure that remained relatively consistent for all three years. His lack of size and reach affects him here more than in other parts of the game seemingly, as does his propensity for flying around and attempting to challenge every shot he can at the rim, which often leaves him out of position on the glass. Part of this is certainly systematic, a product of Louisville's game-plan, but some of it is due to Harrell's average awareness on the floor. Louisville plays a very aggressive 2-3 zone defense with Harrell on the wing, which certainly is not ideal for being a high volume defensive rebounder.

Harrell's average awareness translates to the offensive end as well, where he is not a great decision maker and does not appear to be the type of player a team can run much offense through from the high post. His 7.5% assist percentage for his career is a very poor rate, as he posted just over 100 assists in nearly 3,000 minutes of action, or one for every 29 minutes he's on the floor. He struggles with double-teams, and is prone to making bad decisions with the ball at times, relying on his instincts and aggressiveness more than you'd like, showing just an average feel for the game.

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This probably is a large part of the reason that Harrell fell to the second round. He needs to improve his awareness, and nothing helps with this like playing—a lot.

The reason the D-League is so helpful is that rather than sitting on the bench, players are logging time on the court and learning by experience.

And the Rockets are smart. They utilize the same system in Rio Grande Valley that they do in Houston. The same lessons learned in the D-League can be directly applied in the NBA.

If Harrell embraces the process, he has the tools to break into the rotation next year.

The Destination

Harrell will probably never be an All-Star, but he does have the potential to turn into a kind of Faried/Taj Gibson hybrid thanks to his huge motor.

He can become a valuable piece off the bench—the kind of player who turns games around with sheer hustle and energy, grabbing offensive rebounds, slamming home putbacks and so on.

The other side of playing with the Houston Rockets is that Morey has never been averse to trades. While Harrell is a long way down the depth chart, that isn't likely to stay the same for more than a year or two, particularly if he progresses well. 

Jones, allegedly, has already been floated as trade fodder, and if Smith does re-sign, it would surprise no one if he were dealt before this year's trade deadline. Motiejunas will be a restricted free agent next year. There are plenty of avenues that would open up a rotation spot for Harrell by next season. 

For now, though, he upside of being on a team where the roster is deep is that there won’t be pressure on him to produce now. If he dedicates himself to the process, he can be that niche player he wants to be.