The Houston Rockets had a relatively successful 2024-25 NBA regular season. They won 52 games and returned to the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
Now, the Rockets will look to build on their success in the offseason, where they look to add talent to their young core in free agency. Countless veteran free agents will try to make their way to Houston or elsewhere in hopes of playing competitive basketball.
However, one veteran, who began his career with the Rockets, has likely seen his NBA window close as he most recently played basketball overseas. But the former Houston draft pick isn’t ready to give up hope yet.
Montrezl Harrell recently spoke with Scoop B, aka Brandon Robinson, ahead of the BIG3’s new season. Harrell was asked about playing basketball overseas, his excitement about joining the BIG3, and keeping the door open to the Association.
"NBA is something that I would definitely love to go back to. At the end of the day, where I’m at in my life you gotta understand that I’ve had a great career and the way that the game looks at it when it comes to the NBA game, once you have an injury they start to write you off."Montrezl Harrell
The former Rockets big man most recently played in the NBA with the Philadelphia 76ers for the 2022-23 season. However, he missed the next season due to a torn ACL.
Harrell told Robinson that he had “tremendous training” regarding his rehab and was cleared to return before that season ended. But the former Rocket admitted that he wasn’t in any shape to help a team during a playoff run.
In his lone season with the 76ers, Harrell averaged 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per game. That type of production was a far cry from what Harrell’s done throughout his career as one of the better sixth men in the league.
For his NBA career, Harrell averaged 12.1 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. In his two years with the Rockets, he recorded 6.9 points and 2.9 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game. Harrell’s game didn’t go to the next level until he joined the Los Angeles Clippers.
That said, at his age, Harrell could still be an effective big man off the bench, especially with how he played in the NBL this past season. The 31-year-old scored 20.7 points on 56 percent shooting from the field and grabbed 9.2 rebounds per game.
However, the NBL is a different game from the NBA in terms of skill level. Harrell’s NBA days might be over, but at his age, he can still enjoy playing hoops overseas in Australia or the BIG3.