Montrezl Harrell was clowned by Lakers fans after his disappointing tenure with the Purple and Gold.
But now, as the Sixth Man for the 1st place Wizards, he’s building a case for MVP.
In Basketball Reference’s latest MVP tracker update, he came in 6th, beating Giannis Antetokounmpoo, DeMar DeRozan, Chris Paul, and Zach LaVine.
Updated MVP Tracker, via @bball_ref:
1.) Steph Curry
2.) Nikola Jokic
3.) Kevin Durant
4.) Jimmy Butler
5.) Rudy Gobert
6.) Montrezl Harrell
7.) Giannis Antetokounmpo
8.) DeMar DeRozan
9.) Chris Paul
10.) Zach LaVine
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 11, 2021
Trez has certainly gotten off to an amazing start, and the Wizards are performing way beyond expectations.
But is Harrell really good enough to be in the MVP conversation? It’s arguably.
But with season averages of 18.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks per game on 64% shooting, he definitely deserves some recognition.
“I’ve been telling people, I’m the modern-day Rodman, for real. I’m the modern-day Rodman,” Harrell said back in 2020. “That’s it. Rodman, man. Just to watch his whole process in general, man. Like, even after the documentary, I got on the Twitter and tweeted “Hey man, we gotta give a lot more credit then what we did”.
Harrell’s claim of being the modern-day Rodman is still premature, but he is proving his worth before our very eyes, which is quite surprising given where he was just a year ago.
“I didn’t really get to be utilized how I wanted to be last year. I damn near felt like I had a season off.”
Of course, Trez still has a ways to go if he somehow wants to catch up to guys like Steph Curry, Nikola Jokic, and Jimmy Butler on the MVP ladder. Truth be told, the chances are not in his favor.
But for Trez, he doesn’t care too much about that anyway. What’s most important to him is that the Wizards maintain their place near the top of the East standings. With an 8-3 record so far, they’re off to an inspiring start.
Let’s see if they can keep it up.
