Sam Amick: JaVale McGee freed from Philly, Houston among potential destinations?

It's like people don't see the layup drill and the easy offensive rebounds we give up because we're winning. That shot blocking and rim protection is what McGee can provide when he's not acting like an idiot. Dorsey can't do that. Dorsey is not going to get PT with jones playing well regardless

 

Rockets need to make this move, it only makes sense in case Howard can not come back. Even if Howard does come back it will take some time to get back up to par.

 

It's gotten into Chuck Hayes at center levels for me. Remember when the Lakers killed us win Gasol just picking rebounds over our guys in the playoffs. Frustrating to watch without a real big to grab boards.

 

Much of D-Mo's perceived "softness" is because he and McHale know he is the only center we have. Okay, Dorsey technically is -- or can be -- a center, but I have always regarded him as a PF. We could play Beverley at center -- and call him a center -- but we all know what he is and is not.

If D-Mo fouls out, we are screwed for the rest of that game.

 

Disagree with the risk.

The risk is threefold-

-Waiving Dorsey would eliminate 1 mil (small but important) off of the cap for the Rockets next year. Might come in handy later this Summer if you can put him in a trade.
-Waiving Johnson eliminates a future prospect for this team.
-There is risk at McGee causing chemistry issues on and off the court


No disrespect Larsv but I'm assuming you haven't watched him play much with the Sixers and Nugget this year right? I get just as intrigued as anyone with "Potential" and length and athleticism, but trust me... he's getting outplayed by Noel, AND Henry Simms in Philly clearly. Part of it might have to do with coming back from injury sure, but he's clearly not right physically, and can barely get up and down the court even in short minutes with the Sixers.

There is substantial risk as I noted above, but the biggest risk of all of this is that he simply wont even play due to the other bigs simply beating him out. D-Mo, Jones, Smith, and sooner or later Dwight Howard will clearly be playing at a higher level than the McGee I've seen so far this year and its not even close.

I personally don't see the upside. Maybe next year after a full Summer he can get back to where he was a couple years ago at least, but right now the player you are getting, and giving up things to get, comes with the utmost RISK of not even cracking the rotation.

Is that really a risk you would want to take if you were Morey?

 

Personally, I see it both ways...

Are the last 4 games a sign of things to come regarding Dorsey?

Clearly, his PT has been either minimal or non-existent over the past 4 games. A stretch we just so happened to go 4-0.

So what gives? Barring something unforeseen, is he done as a rotation player? If so, I think you have to consider making a move while FA's are still playoff-eligible. If he's not going to play and there's somebody better out there (McGee, Okafor, Tyrus Thomas, etc) and you don't mind eating his guaranteed salary, now is the time to make a move.

But at the same time, I get why those are very much opposed to the idea. GM's and coaches are always going to gravitate towards the safer option, which is clearly Dorsey, especially at this point in the season. Plus, then you have to factor in whether McGee is a big enough upgrade to justify eating Dorsey's guaranteed money. Something I think is very questionable, despite the potential upside to this move.

At the end of the day, I think we'll pass on McGee and roll with what we already have. Just saying, I understand the temptation to do otherwise.

 

Losing Johnson isn't a substantial risk. We are talking about the 14-15th guys on the bench. He doesn't seem to have anything, nor is he likely to contribute anything for this window.

We have a culture of winning here. It is infectious. Any chemistry issues and the guy can be waived immediately. I see no risk there other than perhaps some growing pains of learning how to play with one another, assuming he finds his way into the rotation.

I have not watched him in Philly, but I have watched him in the past, and I think it is worthwhile to get him into Rocket's big man camp to find out if there is anything there. There is something to be said for dropping guys with elite size/athleticism around elite playmakers. I see a guy who could be developed into a Deandre Jordan. A guy who doesn't have to do anything except rebound, block shots and make putbacks.

In my opinion, it is a worthwhile gamble, that could pay huge dividends.

 

Came across this article about Coach McHale criticizing Javale McGee when he was a TV commentator:

http://offthedribble.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/javale-mcgees-unusual-triple-double/?_r=0

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hADE70REy7k#t=57

Here it is for all to hear. Kevin McHale is "not impressed"

 

Yes. Our coaching staff will dumb it down for him on what his role is and he will do a few things and do it well instead of trying to do too much - poorly.

Rebounds/put-back slams, dunks/alleys/picks/blocks/altered shots etc. etc.

 

I would say if you feel that strongly about it, and you have LP I'd go do some scouting and go watch how he's moving around and playing with Philly.

Also keep in mind that it would almost surely be a one-year minimum signing (since the Rockets don't have the BAE). Any "developing" you do with his is moot when he leaves this Summer.

I get what you're saying but I'm saying look at the tape. The guy does not look physically like he can contribute in the next 6 weeks. I watched him play before when he was still a prospect, and I get suckered into that length and athleticism too so don't think that I'm unfairly judging the kid. It's just that I don't think McHale would even play the guy. This is situational risk. In another situation I definitely would take the risk.

I think the GARM consensus is "Oh McGee... the athletic freak from the dunk contest".... "Why not?" I'm just warning everyone that he's definitely NOT that guy physically right now, and look at the timing. There is a HUGE risk that he might not even crack the rotation and you either lose a prospect for next year in Johnson or you lose cap space. There is definitely SOMETHING you are risking that Morey has to think about.

 

According to Brian Windhorst ESPN, The Clippers will end up with JaVale McGee.

 

Your not factoring in that Dwight will at some point get in foul trouble. He will also need a rest. When he goes out our defense & rebounding deteriorates. D-mo can't keep big centers like D. Jordan out the paint. Last game at the beginning of the 4th qtr, we lost I think a 8pt lead with Thompson completely out muscling DMo. This is exactly the scenario whenever bigger more athletic guys match up with him. There is absolutely no rim protection or defense with DMo at center. We can't afford that in the playoffs. His offense valued. But he's just physical enough on D. Other than him, all we have is Dorsey. I'm not comfortable with not having a legit shotblocker backing up Dwight. The playoffs expose everything x10. Trust me, McGee will contribute WAY more than Joey Dorsey.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Clippers not very interested in JaVale McGee, I have been told.</p>&mdash; Ben Bolch (@latbbolch) <a href="https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/572465153570025472">March 2, 2015</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

Well that makes Brian Windhorst statement on ESPN moot :grin:

 

We almost always see eye to eye on things, but this isn't one of those times.

Javale is a joke. I want no part of him here.

A guy with that size and athleticism is a worse rebounder than Dorsey by a LONG shot this year.

 

The dude had two rebounds Sunday. Two. That's our 7 foot starting center getting out rebounded by all of the other starters. I love watching D-Mo go to work on the post but the dude needs to do something about the (lack of) boards.

 

To me it's obvious he's tired. He's having to play the most minutes he's ever had since Dwight has been out. He's beat the **** up.

 

That's our PF getting out-rebounded by centers while playing out of position, I think that's pretty important to remember. I don't think any of our other PF's would do any better if they were forced to pretend to be a center.

 

Is he better than Dorsey? If he is, then he a good backup center for the rockets. Right now, we only have Dorsey, who is taller enough to be a center.