NBA News: Former Sixth Man Of The Year Awardee Rediscovers Old Self

When Montrezl Harrell joined the Los Angeles Lakers last season, he was seen as a prized acquisition.

However, he never really blossomed.

Moving to the Washington Wizards in the last offseason, the 27-year-old has found a new lease on life and his efforts have helped catapult his new team to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Since being shipped to Washington together with Kyle Kuzma in exchange for Westbrook, Harrell has been performing well.

In 11 games with the Wizards, Harrell has averaged 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists with a minimum of 29.6 minutes of on-court presence.

The production is a far cry from what he gave to the Lakers last NBA season as they were close to the best season he had with the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2019-20 season. where he normed 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 63 regular-season games.

Although it is still too early, Harrell has been getting noticed.

In the latest MVP tracker by Hoop Central, heranks 6th behind the likes of Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic and Kevin Durant.

However, Harrell’s success in his redemption bid may be a bit too premature for him to be considered in the running for the MVP award.

A lot can still happen as the regular season goes along.

But for as long as he stays the course, it may be more than winning an NBA MVP plum for the player, who said last year that he is the modern-day Dennis Rodman.

With Harrell in the fold, the Wizards are surprisingly leading the Eastern Conference as of this writing with an 8-3 win-loss card.