JaVale McGee is a career backup that was a starter last year by default.
Before Lakers fans start to think of this a slight, think back to last year when the roster was constructed. Wasn’t McGee brought in as a part of the “Meme team”? Nobody saw JaVale as nothing more as cap space to chase after Anthony Davis at the trade deadline and Kawhi Leonard in the offseason.
That was the plan. He was on a one year deal coming off the back-end of the bench for the Golden State Warriors title teams. He was more famous for his feud with Shaq for being on Shaqtin A Fool segments every week on TNT.
The plan was to renounce his rights to get two superstars to play along LeBron James. Nobody saw the best run of his career happening last year. Plus with his experience in Golden State, he can seamlessly play a bench role better than Dwight Howard.
If JaVale McGee can come off the bench with the same energy he played with last year, he can bolster the Lakers bench which is considered suspect by many NBA pundits. Also at the end of the season last year, he played very well with Alex Caruso and those two can anchor the second unit and be very effective against the opponent’s backups.
Convinced yet? Now let’s discuss a narrative only true basketball players know.