NBA Draft: Houston Rockets Select Montrezl Harrell
By Yoni Pollak
The Houston Rockets selected Montrezl Harrell with the 32nd overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft.
Here’s bits from a scouting report from DraftExpress:
"Harrell is a relentless floor-runner, getting out regularly in transition beating opposing big men down the court. He’s a constant target for lobs and alley-oop plays in both the half and full court, and is a terrific finisher around the basket in general, converting a terrific 65% of his attempts around the rim on the season. He seems to relish taking contact around the basket, drawing free throws at a solid rate in return.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 3000 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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Just like the Dekker pick at 18, many in the media liked the Harrell pick, saying the Rockets made a great value pick at 32. Harrell is a bit undersized but makes the most out of his abilities. He’s one of those players you love to have on your team but hate playing against.
Here’s what Morey had to say about Harrell: “Super high-energy big who again plays great in our system. Led the country in dunks the last 2 years.”
We’ll have more analysis on the Harrell pick over the summer.
Stick with us here at House of Houston for all your Rockets offseason coverage.
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