Free agency:
Center McGee testing market.
A day after sitting down with the Clippers, free-agent center JaVale McGee was scheduled to meet Thursday with the Kings, according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
Shaquille O’Neal, who engaged in a much-publicized feud with McGee last season, is a minority owner of Sacramento. Regardless, the Kings could offer more than the minimum — likely the limit for the salary-cap-strapped Warriors — to bring McGee in for frontcourt depth.
After resuscitating his NBA career last season with Golden State, McGee is a hot freeagency commodity. Sacramento, which has Willie Cauley-Stein as its starting center, probably would slide McGee into a backup role with fellow big men Kosta Koufos, Georgios Papagiannis and Skal Labissiere. In addition to the Clippers and Kings, McGee reportedly has received interest from the Suns and Heat.
The Warriors want to resign McGee, but they’re restricted in how much they can pay. Golden State, which currently has two roster spots available, is already deep into the luxury tax.
When the departures of Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli and Marreese Speights left the Warriors with few other prototypical interior defenders last summer, they took a chance on the man who once had thrived in Denver for George Karl’s pace-and-space system. It wasn’t long before McGee carved out minutes as a change-of-speed option off the bench.
On a team stocked with elite shooters and passers, McGee’s knack for catching lobs added another dimension to the league’s most prolific offense. Opponents were so concerned about Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson that they often left McGee a direct route to the rim. He took more than 300 shots for the first time since the 2012-13 season, and his 65.2 percent shooting from the field was a career high.
Per 36 minutes, McGee averaged 23 points, 11.9 rebounds and 3.3 blocks. His most dominant performance came in Game 2 of the firstround playoff series against Portland, when he was 7-for-7 from the field and became the first player in postseason history to have at least 15 points and four blocks in less than 15 minutes.
Re-signing McGee could be the last step for Golden State to keep its center rotation together. It already has resigned David West to a oneyear, veteran-minimum contract, and Zaza Pachulia is expected to re-sign as well.
If the Warriors can’t bring back McGee, they might target 6-foot-10 free-agent forward Willie Reed. In 14.5 minutes per game for the Heat last season, Reed averaged 5.3 points and 4.7 rebounds. He boasts a career shooting percentage of 56.9.