Los Angeles Lakers: JaVale McGee expects to be starter this season

As he enters his second season with the Los Angeles Lakers, JaVale McGee expects to be the starting center.

With training camp and preseason right around the corner for the Los Angeles Lakers, there is a lot of speculation about who the starting center for the team will be.

Last summer, one of the best moves made by the Lakers was the signing of JaVale McGee. Coming from the Golden State Warriors, McGee was supposed to bring a veteran presence that knew how to win. However, he exceeded all expectations with a really strong season for the Lakers.

In his first year with the Lakers, McGee averaged over 20 minutes per game for the first time since the 2011-12 season. With the extra playing time, he averaged 12.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game. While a lot of the new additions for the Lakers last season were disappointments, McGee was certainly not one of them.

Recently, McGee spoke with Mike Bresnahan about the starting center spot. Here’s what he had to say with text via Silver Screen and Roll.

"“I started last year, so I wouldn’t expect anything less. But it’s definitely not up to me, it’s up to the coach, but I don’t plan on showing him anything other than that I’m the starting center for the Lakers.”"

Coming into the season, McGee should certainly be the favorite to be the starting center for the Lakers. However, there is a highly motivated Dwight Howard now in the mix as well. In his prime, Howard was certainly a much better player than McGee. This Howard is coming into the season coming off nearly missing an entire season, and is bit of a wild card for the Lakers.

While both players will certainly see a decent amount of minutes, who starts might come down to how they mix with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. If one of the centers clearly plays well with those two, they will likely be the one in the starting lineup.

Since McGee does have a season under his belt as a pick-and-roll man with LeBron, he probably has the edge. No matter who starts, having two capable centers in Howard and McGee is good news for the Lakers. The two should not only be able to push each other to be better, but they will complement each other nicely during the season.