Lakers News: Rival West Franchise Interested In JaVale McGee Following Mavs Release

Is an LA reunion off the table already?

Former 2020 Los Angeles Lakers center JaVale McGee, who was just cut today by the Dallas Mavericks following a single year of service, is already attracting interest from a feisty Pacific Division playoff competitor.

Unfortunately, it's not the Lakers.

Sources inform Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report that the Sacramento Kings, last year's No. 3 seed in the West with a 48-34 record, are interested in adding the seven-footer to shore up their front line.

The 35-year-old McGee, who also won championships as a springy rim-rolling big man option for some starry Golden State Warriors teams in 2017 and 2018, inked a three-year, $17.2 million deal with the Mavs last summer, but had basically fallen out of head coach Jason Kidd's rotation by the midway point of the 2022-23 NBA season, on a lottery-bound Dallas club.

He's lost some of his athleticism and bounce in his dotage, but might be worth a flyer on a veteran's minimum.

Los Angeles has reportedly been on the prowl for a big man to sign to its 14th standard roster spot. Team president/GM Rob Pelinka has inked former lottery picks Cam Reddish and Jaxson Hayes to minimum-salaried "prove-it" contracts, so one wonders if he'd be more inclined to sign a younger player with some remaining upside, rather than a vet in decline.

During his two seasons with Los Angeles as the team's starting center, from 2018-20, McGee averaged 9.4 points on 62.8% field goal shooting, 6.7 rebounds, 1.7 blocks, 0.6 steals and 0.6 assists, across just 19.6 minutes per. His role shifted in the team's 2020 "bubble" postseason run depending on the matchup, and he was not played at all in LA's six-game NBA Finals series against the faster, smaller Miami Heat.

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