2:47pm: Things are dead between the Celtics and McGee and talks will not be revived, according to Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (on Twitter).
2:23pm: In addition to previously mentioned suitors like the Warriors, Mavs, Raptors, and Heat, Wojnarowski writes that the Spurs and Bulls also have expressed interest in McGee.
2:10pm: The Raptors are one of several teams that plan on circling back to McGee, league sources tell Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter). Toronto GM Masai Ujiri is familiar with McGee from their time together in Denver.
1:42pm: Multiple playoff teams remain interested in McGee, Wojnarowski tweets. He doesn’t want to give up his freedom for next season, however, and he wants a player option for 2015/16 in his contract.
Most contenders called on McGee, Wojnarowski adds (link). It’s easier to list the playoff teams that haven’t called on McGee, Wojnarowski tweets, and that includes the Clippers, Thunder, and Cavs.
1:20pm: There will be no deal between the Celtics and McGee after all, according to Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald (on Twitter). The two sides ultimately could not reach agreement on a contract.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports (on Twitter) hears that the C’s wanted a team option for the 2015/16 season while McGee’s camp was pushing for a player option.
8:32am: Team president Danny Ainge confirmed that Boston is on the verge of signing McGee, tweets A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com.
Ainge told Toucher and Rich of The Sports Hub that he’s optimistic about what McGee can bring to the table, according to Ben Rohrbach of WEEI (on Twitter). “He hasn’t lived up to his potential yet, and we’re hoping that he can under Brad Stevens. We think he’s in a good place,” Ainge said.
8:30am: The Celtics are close to signing JaVale McGee, multiple sources told Jeff Goodman of ESPN.com (via Twitter). The deal would take the big man through next season.
Multiple teams expressed interest in McGee after he was waived by the Sixers, but we haven’t heard much of the Celtics’ potential interest in him. The Mavericks were said to be “seriously interested,” the Warriors expressed serious interest, and the Raptors were weighing things, though they were skittish about crossing the $76.829MM tax line.
If and when McGee joins the Celtics, he’ll be putting on his third uniform of the season and, in fact, his third jersey in about a month. The Nuggets shipped McGee to the Sixers in a deadline deal and rumors of a potential buyout started swirling almost immediately. Both sides denied that they wanted to hammer out a buyout of his contract ($11.25MM in 2014/15 and $12MM in 2015/16), but those talks eventually took place. A buyout wasn’t agreed upon, but just prior to the deadline for playoff eligibility the Sixers waived McGee.
McGee, a B.J. Armstrong client, has averaged 8.4 PPG and 5.5 RPG across seven seasons. He played in six games for Philly, averaging 3.0 PPG and 2.2 RPG in 10.2 minutes per contest.
While the Celtics were never named specifically as a team with interest in the 27-year-old, Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports reported earlier this week that a third of the league was eyeing McGee.
Would be so glad if JaVale could be taught and learn to reach his potential. As a Nugget, I saw him do things no other player can do. Like pulling Zack’s jumper out of the sky into both his hands. He is always helping kids, too. Good luck, JaVale.