The Mavericks are "seriously interested" in signing recently bought out JaVale McGee, according to ESPN's Marc Stein.
Wait, what? McGee was shipped from Denver to Philadelphia at the trade deadline and reached a buy out on Sunday, the last day McGee could be waived and still be eligible to join a playoff roster. McGee clears waivers at 4 p.m. local time on Wednesday. The list of teams interested in him "stretches well beyond Dallas," according to Stein.
The Mavericks have lacked depth behind Tyson Chandler since the start of the season, but recently solidified it by signing Bernard James for the rest of the year. To me, McGee's an odd fit. It has been two years since he has made any sort of impact for a NBA team, and even then, he only averaged 18 minutes off the bench for a surprisingly good Denver team.
He's a more dynamic upgrade over what James can provide, sure, but he's mistake prone and unproven since his injuries. In a best case scenario, McGee is a poor man's Brandan Wright who can play center (shifting Amar'e Stoudemire to the 4) and roam the paint as a foul-prone shot blocker. At worst, he's immature, a locker room distraction and unable to provide any quality minutes.
Still, right now, it's reportedly just "interest." Dallas would certainly do their due diligence working McGee out to try and prevent that worst case scenario from happening. If they did opt to bring him in, it's most likely Greg Smith would be cut to make room on the 15-man roster. Smith is more than expendable with James in tow and lacks the potential of Dwight Powell.
Just when we thought the Mavericks had finally settled on a 15-man roster, here we go again. What are your thoughts on this rumor?