Sixers' Montrezl Harrell undergoes right knee surgery

Sixers big man Montrezl Harrell had successful surgery on his right knee, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Harrell suffered a torn ACL and a medial meniscus tear earlier this summer.

Philadelphia opted to keep Harrell on its roster even though the contract he signed in July only covers one year at $2.9M. The team has a surplus of centers with Mohamed Bamba, Paul Reed and Filip Petrusev all capable of backing up Joel Embiid.

Because he was a free agent this summer, Harrell won’t become eligible to be traded until Dec. 15. He gave up his right to veto a trade when he re-signed with the Sixers.

Harrell, 29, originally came to Philadelphia as a free agent last summer, signing a two-year deal with a player option. He re-signed in mid-July after turning down the option and testing the free agent market.

Harrell appeared in 57 games during his first season with the Sixers, averaging 5.6 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.9 minutes per night. An offseason coaching change and the presence of so many other big men on the roster left him with an uncertain role for the upcoming season even before the knee injury.

It typically takes players a year or more to recover from an ACL tear, so it’s possible that Harrell will miss the entire season before becoming a free agent again next summer.