8. JaVale McGee
Coming in at the eighth spot is another player who I was surprised to see the Lakers bring back; JaVale McGee.
After being played in limited minutes for the last few years of his career, McGee was thrust into the starting spot last season for a Lakers team that severely lacked depth at the Center position.
As a result, McGee’s production seemed to drop off as the season went along. However, this season should be a different story for McGee, whose going to get some help at the big man position from Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard.
Even without an outside shot, McGee is still a good rim-runner and lob threat and has already established solid chemistry with LeBron James over the course of last season, both of which will prove to be valuable going into the 2018-2019 season.
McGee also provides some defensive value, as he finished fifth in blocks last season, ahead of players like Hassan Whiteside, Andre Drummond, and Joel Embiid. Now, obviously, blocks are not the end-all, be-all stat when it comes to evaluating defensive contribution, but they show that McGee is still capable of providing rim-protection.
I think with McGee returning to a role akin to his time in Golden State where he can come in and play 12-15 minutes a game as an energy guy, we’ll see him return to a level of positive production.