Could Celtics sign JaVale McGee?

CSNE

A. SHERROD BLAKLEY

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics were close to signing JaVale McGee back in March when the Philadelphia 76ers released him and thus made him a free agent.

Could a second go-around be the charm?

Despite the failed efforts by both sides to hammer out a deal earlier, the door hasn’t been totally slammed shut on the two coming together once again and seal a deal this time.

The sticking point previously was the Celtics’ desire to have a team option following the 2015-2016 season while McGee’s camp instead wanted a player option.

Boston’s salary cap situation this summer coupled with the league’s overall salary cap improvement the following year could pave the way for a two-year deal with McGee having an option to explore free agency in 2016 when many teams are expected to have substantial cap space to spend courtesy of the league’s new national TV deal kicking in.

The Celtics would be gambling that a good, successful season in Boston both individually and with the team, could be enough to entice the 27-year-old to want to sign a long-term deal.

Injuries and inconsistent play in recent years has derailed what many saw as a promising NBA career.

A 7-footer with immense athleticism who plays well above the rim, McGee was a highlight reel-in-waiting during his first three-plus seasons with the Washington Wizards.

But he wasn’t without his flaws and run-ins while playing in the nation’s capital.

While in Washington, McGee reportedly got into a fight with then-teammate Andray Blatche. Both players tried to downplay what happened, but the team eventually suspended them for “conduct detrimental to the team.”

There were lingering questions about his work ethic.

But Boston in the past couple of years has proven to be a good spot for players to restart their careers.

Former Celtic Kris Humphries was part of the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett/Jason Terry trade with Brooklyn in 2013 mainly because of his salary and expiring contract.

Humphries spent the entire season with Boston, put up decent numbers (8.4 points, 5.9 rebounds per game) and made the most of his opportunities to play which he parlayed into a 3-year, $13.32 million sign-and-trade deal that landed him in Washington.

Just this past season we saw Jae Crowder (acquired from Dallas) and Tyler Zeller (acquired from Cleveland) emerge from years of being on the bench, into solid rotation players who had major roles in Boston getting the Eastern Conference’s 7th seed in this year’s playoffs.

It’s not that big a stretch to envision McGee’s game taking off in a similar fashion.

“JaVale is a long, athletic guy,” Danny Ainge, Boston’s president of basketball operations, told 98.5 the Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich show in March. “We don’t have that type of player, above the rim, offensive and defensive player.

Ainge added, “He hasn’t lived up to his potential yet. We’re hoping that he can under Brad’s tutelage. I think he’s at a good place emotionally and mentally. I think he really wants to get his career on the right path.”

112288

ANOTHER POST, ANOTHER HYPOTHETICAL ...................LAL has now made the turn, while we are still marred in hypotheticals!

Hope Danny can pull a rabbit out of his axs instead of crxp.

112288

oh please NO.

we don't need any knuckleheads on this team, period..

not to mention all the episodes of shaqin' the fool a Celtics uniforms would be on.

no thanks, no way.

112288 wrote:ANOTHER POST, ANOTHER HYPOTHETICAL ...................LAL has now made the turn, while we are still marred in hypotheticals!

Hope Danny can pull a rabbit out of his axs instead of crxp.

112288

112288,

Julius Randle has played one game in the NBA.

Clarkson had a very nice rookie year on one of the worst teams in the league. Will he get the "sophomore jinx" as teams now start to scout him more thoroughly.

Assuming Minny takes Towns and the Lakers take Okafur, why don't we wait to see how well his game translates to the NBA. Does the name "Sam Bowie" mean anything to you"? Even if his game does translate well, so did Andrew Bynum's and he ended up with a pretty short effective career.

Kobe is almost done (if not done already). He is going to be hellaciously difficult to replace, like the way replacing Jordan was difficult for the Bulls.

While Laker fans have some things to smile about I think it's too soon to say they have "made the turn". On paper, maybe, but this is why we play the games.


bob



.

BOB,

I look at the 2 key building block parts fro a basketball team - center and power forward. You control the boards and you control the paint. LAL will have 2 great young talent and yes although both have no NBA experience........you have to admit they have a high percentage of being an elite team within a few years with those 2 players as your corner stones.

Hey Danny wanted Randle but needed a point guard because of the Rondo situation. Hey I'll take Randle over Sully any day of the week.

Now you bring in Tom Tibbs as coach which is being talked about and a few free agents and you have the makings of a great team.

The Celtics greatest asset right now is their coach. Beyond that, the Celtics are a HODGEPODGE of players, so good, so ok...but no superstar. The talk in NY papers now is the Knick's select Cauley Stein.

But you are right, you do not know about a player until you get a few seasons under your belt.

112288

112288 wrote:BOB,

I look at the 2 key building block parts fro a basketball team - center and power forward.  You control the boards and you control the paint.  LAL will have 2 great young talent and yes although both have no NBA experience........you have to admit they have a high percentage of being an elite team within a few years with those 2 players as your corner stones.

Hey Danny wanted Randle but needed a point guard because of the Rondo situation.  Hey I'll take Randle over Sully any day of the week.

Now you bring in Tom Tibbs as coach which is being talked about and a few free agents and you have the makings of a great team.

The Celtics greatest asset right now is their coach.  Beyond that, the Celtics are a HODGEPODGE of players, so good, so ok...but no superstar.  The talk in NY papers now is the Knick's select Cauley Stein.

But you are right, you do not know about a player until you get a few seasons under your belt.

112288

112288,

The power behind the GSW is their back court and their wings.  Bogut is very nice, but is not a dominating force on offense nor defense and David Lee is really looking like the tweener he is now (although, for some reason, he always played well against us in NY).

Cleveland has Mozgov, and yes he did have a profound impact on them this year, but they are a back court and wing driven team too (LBJ, Kyrie, Smith.  Even, to a smaller extent, Dellavadova).  Tristan Thompson is finally finding his niche, but he couldn't do it as a starter.  Kevin Love has been used as more of a stretch 4 by David Blatt, as opposed to the more traditional bruising front court player (like Thompson).

Atlanta has Horford, who is nice, and Antic who is also nice, and Millsap but they aren't a big dominating front court team either.

Who is?

LAC, with Jordan and Griffin.  Status?  Feet in the sand somewhere.
SAS, with Duncan and Splitter and Diaw.  Status?  Well, Duncan might be home in St. Croix...The best player on their team now?  SF Kawhi Leonard.
MEM, with Gasol and Zebo and Koufas.  Status?  Sipping mint juleps.
HOU, with D12 and Smith and Motiejunas and Jones and Capela.  Status?  Still playing, we'll see how this turns out, but they're not blowing away the back court and wing-driven GSW.  Curry, Thompson, Green, Barnes are their non-center starters and not one of them are over 6'8".  They are the best team in the league and they thrive on small ball.

Personally I like my big men down low where they can pound their opponents into paste, I just love east coast smash-mouth basketball but I'm not blind to the fact that the game has changed and changed significantly.  How long has the term "spread pick-and-roll" been in the vernacular?  Only a very few years.  Why?  Because the proliferation of 3pt shooting big men have changed the nature of the game so that it's hard for the defense to collapse in time to stop the penetrator (big slow men are particularly unhelpful here) and if you fall off the guard the picker will hit a 3 on you.  It's a different game now.  I'm not sure I like it better, but it is different and the Darwinian nature of competitive sports forces you to adapt or die ("death" being defined as having to be in the green room when the envelopes are opened and the lottery order is revealed).

You need to control your boards, but GSW does that without an awesome, dominating rebounder, they do it with the speed of their wings.  Who is the #10 rebounder/game in the playoffs so far?  Draymond Green, with 10.3.  The nine players ahead of him?  With the exception of Dwight Howard they are all enjoying their early summer relaxation somewhere nice, no doubt.  What we need, in my opinion (one which I've probably beat to death by now) is length.  A Gorgui Dieng type.  Maybe a Javale McGee?  Someone who, when the guard gets past that spread pick-and-roll and comes down the lane has to have his head on a swivel because he knows he's probably going to have to get rid of it or throw up a bad shot and hope his guys can get the offensive carom.  To do that you need a player with length and speed who can close out the lane quickly.  You also need your other players to be able to rotate quickly to cover for them.  In the GSW/Memphis series there was a sequence where Thompson and Curry played a little game with Zach Randolph who didn't have the speed to cover either one.  The result was a wide open 3 by Curry.

Are the Celtics a "hodgepodge" team right now?  Hmm, maybe, but then we're only just 2 years into a minimum 3 if not 5-6 year rebuild.  Having an unbalanced roster or a thoroughly inadequate roster is part of rebuilding.  If you didn't have either one of them you wouldn't be rebuilding, you'd be rebuilt.  Having the right pieces doesn't necessarily mean you win either.  Evidence for the prosecution, the Brooklyn Nets of 2013-2014.

Yeah, the rumor du jour is that the Lakers are looking at Thibs.  That would be their, what, 4th or 5th coach in 4 years?  I heard NOP is looking hard at Thibs too.  Who would you rather coach?

"If wishes were horses, beggars would ride".  Open season on trading and wheeling and dealing hasn't even opened yet.  I'm going to wait until some of these rumors/wishes actually land on solid ground before I declare the sky to be falling.  Two things we know, for absolutely sure, is that Danny is not a patient man nor a fearful man and Wyc is willing to spend the money if it will get him to within spitting distance of a championship.  How they're going to get us there I have no idea, maybe they don't either until the phone rings and an opportunity suddenly pops up, but passive they are not.



bob


.

112288,

I am not sure that I can agree with your thought that the Lakers "have turned to corner" quite yet, but getting this year's number 2 pick is not a bad place to start.

And, to me, the Cs are much more than a hodgepodge of players at this point. I feel that they have some quality players who will be part of an even better team next season even if they do not yet have a true "star" player. Some upgrade at the wing and at center will get the Cs to 50 wins next year while the Lakers may find their way to 30 wins.

It's really hard to predict wins for the Lakers or Celtics next season because it is so early.
What if Love, Butler, Reggie Jackson or Aldridge signs with the Lakers to go along with Okafor/Towns, Kobe, Randle and Clarkson?
That's not a 30 win team.

Wide

As I apply the term hodgepodge to the Celtics I mean>

> Bradley should be a point guard but is not and he is too small to play shooting guard in this era of the NBA. Has improved his jump shot but was MIA in the playoffs. Could not hit a barn.

> Turner is not a point guard but uses his height and body to get into the paint. Should be used more as a SF.

> Bass is a nice PF but is a little short at 6'8.5" and often plays center where we get killed in rebounding.

> Sully is a PF but is not athletic and will never play above the rim even if he loses 30 lbs.  He is too slow for Stevens offense.

> Crowder is a nice player coming off the bench at SF and gives you real good defense but is no PF and is a streaky shooter.  He is not a starter.

> Thomas is a good guy off the bench as 6th man. He'll give you scoring and energy to create a motion offense, but too small and is a defensive liability. His salary is the most attractive feature right now and should be used as an enticement in a trade.

> Kelly O. What is he?  Not a center, not a power forward, not a SF. Too clumsy at times.   Plays spotty defense and not aggressive under the boards.  Who is KO????

> Smart could be a great player.  He has to find himself of who he is - a PG and SG?   Great defensive player.


FREE BRADY!

112288

112288 wrote:BOB,

I look at the 2 key building block parts fro a basketball team - center and power forward.  You control the boards and you control the paint.  LAL will have 2 great young talent and yes although both have no NBA experience........you have to admit they have a high percentage of being an elite team within a few years with those 2 players as your corner stones.

Hey Danny wanted Randle but needed a point guard because of the Rondo situation.  Hey I'll take Randle over Sully any day of the week.

Now you bring in Tom Tibbs as coach which is being talked about and a few free agents and you have the makings of a great team.

The Celtics greatest asset right now is their coach.  Beyond that, the Celtics are a HODGEPODGE of players, so good, so ok...but no superstar.  The talk in NY papers now is the Knick's select Cauley Stein.

But you are right, you do not know about a player until you get a few seasons under your belt.

112288

112288 and general,

Latest and greatest on this: Now you bring in Tom Tibbs as coach which is being talked about and a few free agents and you have the makings of a great team.  Can't be chasing every rumor, there are just too many of them and too many of them are bogus.




http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/05/21/mitch-kupchak-on-lakers-reported-interest-in-tom-thibodeau-nothing-to-it/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter



Mitch Kupchak on Lakers’ reported interest in Tom Thibodeau: “Nothing to it”
Sean Highkin May 21, 2015, 1:45 PM EDT



On Wednesday, a report surfaced that the Lakers were planning to make a run at Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who by all accounts is not long for Chicago. It seemed like the report originated from either the Bulls or from Thibodeau’s camp, trying to either drum up interest around the league or create a bidding war. Now, Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has gone on record saying that, from his end, it’s just a rumor.

Kupchak went on Fox Sports Radio with host Bill Reiter (audio here) and addressed the rumors:

I saw something about that this morning, and my first thought was, ‘Let me call [Lakers coach] Byron [Scott] and let him know that the agents are doing their job, and pay no attention.’ Not that I think Byron reads any of that stuff, but someone may call him and say ‘Hey, guess what I just read?’ Nothing to it. We’re incredibly happy with Byron. That’s what representatives and agents do. They try to create a marketplace for their guy, and I’m not saying that’s exactly what happened here, but we’re very, very happy with Byron, and after I hang up with you I’m going to call him or text him.

That’s a pretty strong on-the-record denial from Kupchak. Not that the interest isn’t there for Thibodeau (the Lakers were reported to have interest in him last summer but were denied permission by the Bulls to interview him), but the timing might not be right for him to go to Los Angeles this summer. As long as he’s under contract in Chicago, the Bulls are going to demand compensation in the form of a draft pick from any team that wants to hire him. If the Bulls fire Thibodeau outright (unlikely, since he has two years left on his contract at about $4 million each), the Lakers could hire him, but it’s more likely that Thibodeau would just sit out a year at that point.

The two teams that have been most strongly linked to Thibodeau in recent months are Orlando and New Orleans, and it’s still most probable that he ends up taking one of those two jobs. The Lakers are an intriguing possibility, but it’s not really feasible for them to get him this year.



bob



.

Bob,

Yep, just like everyone said not to pay attention to the Doc rumor with LAC...Yep!

112288

112288 wrote:Bob,

Yep, just like everyone said not to pay attention to the Doc rumor with LAC...Yep!

112288

112288,


Are you suggesting GMs lie? NO!!!


bob


.

Bob,

In this case I think this is a good fit for Tibbs. He is looking to move up in pay grade and LAL have the pockets to make him a $6-7 M dollar coach.

Chicago is looking for some comp and a small rebuild, so a 1st round draft pick makes sense. LA does have a #27 this year and a #34 so it makes sense.

112288

Rumors have been circulating for many weeks that Tibs would be fired when the season is over. It hasn't happened yet, but where there's smoke, there's fire.
The Lakers or any other teams will wait until he is let go by Chicago.
I do think this is Tibs agent who started this rumor.

The Lakers could certainly do a lot worse than to develop a defensive mentality under Thibs.

Sam