The Los Angeles Lakers may have won the NBA title just months ago, but in a frightening development, they may have just gotten stronger.
As the NBA free agency period opened, fans were left stunned after reigning Sixth Man of the Year winner Montrezl Harrell agreed to a two-year deal with the Lakers, leaving the cross-town rival LA Clippers.
The move was immediately left with frustration from the Clippers, with guard Patrick Beverley initially tweeting "what" with a facepalm and angry face emoji, before eventually saying he was "happy for him".
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Harrell is understood to have turned down more money from the Charlotte Hornets to sign with the Lakers.
According to Clippers beat reporter Farbod Esnaashari, Harrell's former teammates were left "legitimately shocked" by his defection to their bitter rivals.
Harrell's addition comes as the Lakers also added versatile swingman Wes Matthews to a one-year deal on the opening day of free agency.
Harrell is likely to directly replace the minutes played by Dwight Howard off the bench last season, with Howard joining the Philadelphia 76ers on a one-year deal.
Despite Harrell's shock move, on the first night of free agency, De'Aaron Fox was the first huge winner.
Fox and the Sacramento Kings agreed on a max deal Friday night, agent Chris Gaston said. It's a five-year pact that will pay Fox $US163 million, and that figure could rise to nearly $US200 million if Fox makes an All-NBA team or receives other league honors.
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Perhaps reacting to Harrell's shock defection, the Clippers have reached an agreement with Marcus Morris on a four-year, $US64 million deal, while veteran forward Patrick Paterson also likely to re-sign on a one-year deal.
The Lakers' NBA Finals opponent was also in the thick of the action on the opening day of free agency, with the Miami Heat agreeing to re-sign point guard Goran Dragic on a two-year deal.
Dragic flew back to Miami from his native Slovenia on Friday and intends to sign his new contract quickly. He said the fact that the Heat will have much of its roster back from a year ago, when the team won the Eastern Conference title, was particularly important to him.
"This is a family here," Dragic said. "We know we have a good team. We know we have chemistry. We have unfinished business."
With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving set to return this season, the Brooklyn Nets also locked up perhaps the league's best three-point shooter in Joe Harris.
Priority Sports, which represents Harris, announced the deal on Twitter. ESPN reported that Harris would get $75 million over four years.
Harris finished his fourth season in Brooklyn by averaging a career-best 14.5 points in 69 games in 2019-20.
– With AP
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