Sixers center Montrezl Harrell underwent an MRI on Wednesday to evaluate swelling in his right knee following offseason workouts, and the results weren’t good. According to the team, Harrell has been diagnosed with a torn ACL and a medial meniscus tear, via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
It’s a brutal blow for both Harrell and the Sixers, who re-signed the big man to a guaranteed one-year, minimum-salary contract last month after he turned down a player option to reach free agency.
Harrell, 29, didn’t see significant playing time in Philadelphia’s rotation last season, averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in just 11.9 minutes per game across 57 appearances.
However, the 76ers will have a new head coach in 2023-24, with Nick Nurse replacing Doc Rivers, so Harrell wasn’t necessarily in line for the same limited role going forward. In his previous five seasons, he had put up 14.5 PPG and 5.9 RPG in 361 games (23.3 MPG), earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2020.
The Sixers’ announcement didn’t include any sort of recovery timeline for Harrell, but a torn ACL typically requires upward of a year to come back from. We’ll have to wait more clarity on the veteran’s prognosis and the team’s plans for him, but if the injury is deemed season-ending and Philadelphia is comfortable eating the salary and accompanying luxury-tax hit, Harrell could be waived to open up a roster spot for another player.
The 76ers should still have a good amount of depth up front with or without Harrell. Mohamed Bamba, Paul Reed and Filip Petrusev are expected to compete for frontcourt minutes behind reigning MVP Joel Embiid.
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