Clippers Rumors: Montrezl Harrell's Defensive Effort Questioned by Some with LAC

As the conference semifinals unfolded in the 2020 NBA playoffs, some questioned why former Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers continued to lean on Montrezl Harrell. The issue appears to have arisen internally as well.

"A common criticism from some within the team — inside and outside the locker room — was that Harrell's energy and effort was only consistent on the offensive end of the floor, multiple league sources said," The Athletic's Jovan Buha reported. "Meanwhile, Rivers maintained, publicly to the media and privately to his staff and the organization, that Harrell was the better player, in spite of all of the evidence to the contrary."

Harrell was a microcosm of what led the Clippers to fall apart and blow a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets.

During the regular season, the 26-year-old averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks en route to winning Sixth Man of the Year.

Harrell missed all eight of Los Angeles' seeding games due to the death of his grandmother. Perhaps as a result of this layoff, his performance in the postseason suffered. He averaged 10.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 0.5 blocks. On-off ratings aren't a definitive indicator as to a player's value. Still, it's telling that the Clippers were minus-11.6 per 100 possessions with Harrell on the floor and plus-15.6 when he was on the bench, per NBA.com.

Los Angeles was much better when leaning on Ivica Zubac (plus-17.7 net rating) at the 5, yet Rivers continued to stick with Harrell as Nikola Jokic toasted the Clippers frontcourt.

This isn't the first time Harrell was referenced in a story detailing how everything unraveled, either. Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes reported he had a brief argument with Paul George on the bench during Game 2 after George tried to blame him for a turnover on a pass into the post:

"Harrell responded with something along the lines of, 'You're always right. Nobody can tell you nothing,' and expletives were uttered from both players, sources said. George eventually toned down his rhetoric, but a heated Harrell wasn't having it. Teammates began clapping on the sideline, in part to disguise what was going on and in an attempt to defuse the situation. The incident deescalated shortly after as coach Doc Rivers took his seat to go over the game plan."

This leaves the Clippers with a bit of a conundrum as Harrell hits free agency.

Perhaps L.A. needs to move on from the 6'7" center because he isn't a good fit with the current roster. The problem is that finding an adequate replacement would be difficult with limited salary-cap space. ESPN's Bobby Marks floated Nerlens Noel, Aron Baynes and Bismack Biyombo as options.

The Athletic's Shams Charania reported Sept. 21 the Clippers and Harrell were interested in reuniting but that he's likely to have interested suitors elsewhere.

Re-signing Harrell and figuring out a way to make him work better in a postseason rotation might be preferable to letting him walk and looking to fill his roster spot.