Sixers big man Montrezl Harrell will turn down his minimum-salary player option for the 2023-24 season and become an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and TNT (Twitter link).
Harrell signed with Philadelphia last September on a two-year, minimum-salary contract that gave him the ability to opt out after the first season. The 29-year-old appeared in 57 games in 2022-23, averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per night.
Prior to this season, Harrell had posted career averages of 12.9 PPG and 5.3 RPG in 21.5 MPG across 458 games, earning Sixth Man of the Year honors in 2020. His numbers this past season were his lowest since his rookie year (2015-16).
While Harrell’s modest production in Philadelphia won’t exactly line him up for a big payday this summer, his decision to opt out suggests he’s confident he’ll at least get another minimum-salary offer from an NBA team.
Assuming he gets a guaranteed minimum deal, the former Louisville standout will come out ahead, since his player option was worth $2,760,026 and his projected minimum salary on a new contract next season is $2,848,506.
As our tracker shows, Harrell is one of three Sixers with a player option for 2023-24. Danuel House exercised his $4.3M option, while James Harden is expected to decline his $35.6M option
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