Something I've been thinking about regarding free agency and the draft... With everyone worried about what Drummond will be, I have to wonder if there isn't a more logical option to take most of the guesswork out. But how would we feel if Oden had reached, say, 70% of his potential (and stayed healthy enough to sustain that)? What if he only became a serious shot-blocking presence, terrific rebounder, and great athlete who could get us 10-12 a night via hustle and athleticism? Wouldn't we STILL view him as a likely championship piece next to LMA and lock him up with a max contract? Here's why I ask... I feel that Javale McGee IS that player. I think he's roughly 70% of what we all wanted Greg to be, and he doesn't need shots to be that player. He'll get you around 10 pts/game on hustle, fast breaks and putback dunks. He's a beast of a shot blocker (which would allow the team to run more, playing to our best player's greatest strength), and a terrific rebounder. Add to that, he's (serious) injury-free and if we could snare him from Denver (I doubt they'd match a max offer), we'd be hurting a division rival. If we couldn't, we'd be saddling them with a bad contract. At 24 years old, he's young enough to continue on our rebuild mode, yet veteran enough to pair with LA down-low now. Before you come at me with "he's the dumbest player in the NBA", I ask you to consider 2 things. First, pretend he WAS Greg Oden. If Oden were putting up McGee's #s, I think we'd all be very ok w/ locking him up long-term with a max deal. Instead, we'd be doing that with a much healthier player AND hurting a division rival. Second, it's important to recognize how awful his teams in Washington really were. It's worth wondering how many of those strange plays of his were PURELY out of boredom, frustration, or for SOME form of entertainment? Yes, he's had a few goofball plays over the years, but if you watched him play for Denver, he played smart, inspired, and tenacious ball. He even had an incredibly heads-up play where he let the ball come off the rim before he put it in on a putback dunk late in a playoff game - not necessarily THAT special until you understand that he had mistimed his jump and literally just floated in the air, hands around (but not touching) the ball, waiting for it to come off the rim...). The frontal cortex in males doesn't finish growing until the average age of 25. McGee is about to turn, 25. Throw a max at McGee at 12:00.01 in free agency so you can resign Batum and you've got a very solid, young, talented and LONG 3, 4, 5 locked up for the forseeable future with 2 lottery picks to add... Why aren't we talking about him more?
I'd be shocked if Denver matched a max offer... Who knows though, honestly at that point it seems (much like we did with Milsap) win/win.
My big fear with him (other than you can't fix dumb) is that he is a very inconsistent rebounder. Having said that, I wouldn't be opposed to getting him. He is still young and certainly has some skills for his size.
Having watched him play at Nevada for 2 years, I can vouch for the fact that he's a continuing work in progress. And the only thing holding him back is what's between his ears. He's been babied so long by his mom, Pam McGee, that he will often throw tantrums (literally). If we had the veteran supporting cast in place around him (along with a patient coach), McGee would be great. But without both of those he will be a handful. Also, Pam comes with the deal, so Larry Miller better be prepared to give up his seat next to Paul on game nights... PS - are the Blazers ready to host a 3rd Nevada prospect???
if greg oden was the dumbest player in the nba, a horrible post defender, and averaged 10.3 points, 5.8 boards, and 1.6 blocks in 20 mpg, no, no i wouldnt he should not get anywhere near a max contract
Yeah denver is not going to trade Nene for McGee and then let him walk. Unless Karl decided he doesn't like him. Which would then really concern me.
Giving a max deal to McGee is irresponsible and crazy. You think this guy will work hard after getting a max deal when he didn't earn it? Say hello to Shawn Kemp version 2.0
if we offeres more then 7m a year to mcgee id shoot myself. Denvers gonna match any non insane offer. Mcgee is just such a stupid player, can't help on d gets lost if you ask him to switch and will leave his guy wide open to try and block shots. Id rather overpay Hawes then overpay Mcgee(would rather not overpay either. Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2
We just ran Crawford and Felton out of town for stupid plays. This would likely end up with a fan revolt.
Don't like McGee..... But his block of Wes Matthews shot 2 seasons ago at the RG was NASTY!!!! YouTube it!
Perfectly put. We can always toss $7-8 million at him- but even that to me is debatable. He's a friggin' loon. Why tie a player like that up? I like the idea as it was fresh, but as a practical matter it fails.
You are not. And may I add, what a fantastically substantive addition to what was trying to be a thoughtful discussion. Perhaps I should have been a bit more clear on a few things (long posts get ignored here)... I'm not necessarily advocating that we SHOULD go after McGee with our cap room in free agency. We have a serious talent shortage, so we could go after any number of players who would help with that. My point by bringing up McGee was much more directed at answering the "what if" concerns with Drummond. The biggest problem with him is that you have no idea what you're going to get, and that scares people, especially given our history with centers. With McGee, on the other hand, you know exactly what you're going to get. He's clearly not perfect as some have stated above, but you don't have to use a draft pick on him, hurt a rival, and are getting a guy where you'll know what you're getting. When was the last time we've known what we were getting from the center position, long term? I'm also not necessarily advocating that we SHOULD give McGee a max offer. I agree that it would be FAR too much money. Again, in the interest of brevity, I felt as though "max" could represent the amount at which Denver was torn between letting him (essentially Nene) walk or matching and hamstringing their future cap plans. He will be a key player going forward for them and as others have said, at only 24 years old, can still improve.
