Remember all the way back in the great month of February, when JaVale McGee swore up and down that he wanted to be part of the Philadelphia 76ers’ rebuilding plan? That he wanted to mentor the team’s young big men, and that he wasn’t the type to go chasing for a ring?
Confronted with the ability to make all the money he is owed – the rest of the $11.25 million he’s set to take in this year, and $12 million in 2015-16 – while being afforded the luxury to hop to whatever team will have him, McGee has now decided to leave those poor and mentor-less Sixer bigs to the wolves.
Philadelphia officially bought him out on Monday afternoon, after Sam Amick of USA Today first reported that the two sides were looking to officially part ways. From Amick:
Players waived by March 1 can still sign with teams that compete in the postseason, meaning the 27-year-old McGee will likely have a fruitful market when he clears waivers. Whether it's a new job with one of the Texas teams (San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets), the Miami Heat or another contender, McGee has every reason to be enthused about what lies ahead — especially considering he didn't give any money back.
As you’ll recall, this flies in the face of what JaVale told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer just last week:
"I don't want to get bought out," said McGee, a 27-year-old in his seventh NBA season. "That's not a positive thing. When you think about it, you don't get all of your money when you get bought out.
"So it doesn't make sense why someone would want to get bought out unless they are older - older and they want to go to a contender or something. I'm not that old. I just want to play basketball.”
Sixers coach Brett Brown was less enthusiastic about McGee’s time with the Sixers, especially after he came through with some rather pitiful basketball in his first few times out with the team, telling the press that “it's not going to be on us” if McGee didn’t work out in Philly. Because the Sixers only dealt for McGee’s massive contract in order to take on a first-round pick and approach the NBA’s minimum salary floor, the team wasn’t exactly looking at the 27-year old as a future cornerstone.
McGee did get regular minutes in his six games with the 76ers, but he appeared woefully unprepared to take on the task of collecting the only things he knows how to pick up: JaVale managed just 13 rebounds and only one block in 61 minutes of play with the team. McGee has always been a careless, inconsistent, and often indifferent player that never seemed keen to build upon the physical gifts he’d been given, but at the very least you could count on him to corral some caroms or reject a few shots before slunking back off to acting a basketball ghost.
Somehow, McGee has gone from a raw young prodigy to an older and less-appealing non-contributor in just a few years, without giving us that productive middle of a career that even the most frustrating project players seem to usually provide. And he’s certainly proven not to be worth that four-year, $44 million deal he signed back in 2012.
McGee, who had played 22 total games in over a season and a half with Denver prior to the trade to Philadelphia, will now have his pick of the litter. He’ll also be playoff eligible, as Philadelphia cut ties with the 24th player to wear a Sixers uniform in 2014-15 prior to the postseason cutoff.
Despite his past transgressions, some playoff contender will take a chance on McGee, he’ll likely end up at the end of the team’s bench and hardly factor into the team’s postseason run, but he will be the biggest part of one or two second quarter runs off the bench – offering a batch of nationally televised blocks and throwdowns as fans in Washington, Denver and even Philadelphia roll their eyes.
And he’ll be paid $12 million next year, as yet another team (possibly his fourth in six months) takes another chance at making a consistent contributor out of JaVale McGee.
As always, good luck to both sides.
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from Yahoo Sports http://ift.tt/1DKQT9C
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