Of all the non-basketball things one could see JaVale McGee doing, mentoring young NBA talents is not among them.
Professional volleyball-spiker?
Uh-huh.
Gumby imitator?
For sure.
Gangly hug-giver.
You bet.
Mentor?
Not so much.
Alas, McGee himself feels differently. Per the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey:
“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.” …
McGee also sees this as an opportunity to mentor rookie centers Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. In addition to backing up Noel, McGee said he can help with the young players’ confidence.
“When I was with the Wizards, I think it was my sophomore year, we won like 19 games,” he said. “So I’ve been in the same situation. I’ve just definitely got to get these young guys’ heads into it where they stay positive, keep playing hard, just look for wins and [learn] how to win.”
You gotta love, JaVale.
The same JaVale who has cracked 20 minutes per game just twice in his career and appeared in 13 total playoff games. He wants to mentor Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid. That JaVale.
Truth is, McGee likely won’t be around long enough to do that. He’ll be an expiring contract next season, at which point Sam Hinkie will probably flip him. Couldn’t you just see him trading McGee for Brendan Haywood and a second-round pick? I could.
In the event McGee lasts through next season—again, a big if—it will be interesting to see how he fits into this whole Sixers dynamic. Noel and Embiid aren’t built to play together. They’re both centers. If he had to, Embiid could probably see some time at the 4 since his offensive range extends beyond the restricted area. Still, it’s a tight fit.
Throw McGee into that jumbled mess, and you have a three-headed rotation up front, in which none of the three is ideally fit to play beside either of the other two. It’s a categorical clusterfuck.
This, again, is assuming the Sixers hang on to McGee. It’s also assuming Hinkie doesn’t deal Embiid or Noel, which at least one previous report suggested was a possibility. This has to be especially true is the Sixers win the draft lottery and are compelled to select Jahlil Okafor or even Karl-Anthony Towns at No. 1.
In the meantime, McGee is in Philly to help, to mentor, to impart his wisdom on the Sixers’ young, impressionable, loss-loaded roster.
Godspeed, young, impressionable Sixers. Godspeed.
