JULY 10: The Lakers have officially signed McGee, the team announced today in a press release. The move takes L.A. over the cap, but the team still has its $4.449MM room exception available if it wants to make another signing worth more than the minimum.
JULY 1: The Lakers have reached an agreement on a one-year, minimum deal with center JaVale McGee, Chris Haynes of ESPN tweets. McGee will join Lance Stephenson and LeBron James in Los Angeles as part of the Twilight Zone Big 3 You Never Knew You Always Wanted.
Though the frequent Shaqtin’ A Fool honoree gets flak for the occasional on-court blooper, he has actually carved out a valuable bit role for himself in two seasons with the Warriors. His length and athleticism, though not always deployable in today’s small ball era, can impact the tone of games off the bench.
McGee averaged 4.8 points and 2.6 rebounds per game for the Warriors last year but saw those rates increase to 6.7 and 3.8 respectively in contests in which he played at least 10 minutes. Even if he serves a similar niche role with the Lakers, McGee’s minimum deal – worth $2.4MM with a cap hit of $1.5MM – is an affordable piece for a franchise that us quickly running out of roster spots.
The Lakers currently have McGee, 21-year-old Ivica Zubac, and rookie Moritz Wagner set to man the five, so we’ll see if they consider adding more support at the position.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
They are going for an interesting group of players… I think they will get one more player.
kawhi leonard
Haha no
Haha lose him for nothing in a year
The next team will lose him for nothing, the Spurs are going to move him soon enough, and it probably won’t be the Lakers unless the Spurs can get and really want Ingram.
Kemba?
Kemba had a meeting with Kupchak. Kupchak told Kemba he wanted him to be their leader going forward. Kemba said that’s what he wants. Charlotte will have plenty of cap room to re-sign Kemba next summer. I said LeBron to L.A., George to OKC, CP3 to Houston, Jordan to Dallas, and Walker staying put. How many did I get wrong?
Wow, if only you could prove it, or if only anyone cared. Take your pick.
You made fun of the idea that James would go to LA. You’re hopeless.
No Thad, I said LeBron would go to la, George to OKC, CP3 to Houston, Jordan to Dallas, and Kemba would stay in Charlotte. I listened to the press when they said the Cavs haven’t been able to make trades because nobody wants their players. If I don’t like what the press says, I don’t changes things to suit my needs.
Those aren’t exactly hot takes. Almost everyone expected LeBron to go to LA. Almost everyone expected CP3 to re-up in Houston. Almost everyone pointed to Dallas as a landing spot for DJ in a trade/signing since their biggest need was a good center who could rebound (plus the history between DJ and Dallas). Most rational fans expected Kemba to stay in Charlotte since the asking price likely would’ve included taking on at least one of their bad contracts (plus appealing assets). George to OKC was the only mildly surprising decision but even then most people had it around 50-50 chance he stays in OKC or goes to LA.
You never said where Kawhi would play next year.
Thats the only somewhat tough call Mio.
And you don’t know Rondo is going to Lakers…. (inside scoop.)
How about making a call on a difficult pick?
Love this signing.
I’m loving every signing so far. They aren’t done either. Hearing a trade for Leonard might be done by tomorrow morning. But regardless they are setting themselves up for next year it seems like with all these one year deals. Leonard or Thomson or Butler
The L.A. plan is ALL about coming together eventually in 2019..This would be MY L.A. plan..
#1. Resign Randle now..
#2. Then, once he can be traded, eventually I would trade KCP and Lonzo Ball, and a 2nd round pick to Charlotte for Kemba..
#3. Come 2019..I would sign Klay…
#’s 4-6. A starting five of Kemba, Klay, Ingram, Randle, and LeBron would be just FILTHY!! Then, throw in a bench headlined by Kuzma, the resigned McGee or D.Howard for a ring chasing vet min., and then sign Thaddeus Young and Patrick Beverly, one for the vet minimum, and the oher with the Mid-Level Exception..
Overall, you’d have:
ComboG: Kemba
Wing: Klay
Wing: Ingram
PrimaryBH: LeBron
Vers.Big: Randle
Bench Players in rotation: Kuzma, Beverly, T. Young, McGee/D.Howard, Hart, and Wagner..
Then you also have Zubac, Mykhailiuk, and Andre Ingram for the G-League..
In my opinion, it ideally and realistically cannot get much better then that for Magic Johnson, Rob Pelinka, LeBron, and the Lakers..
What do you guys think??..I’m not even a Lakers fan, nor am I even a big LeBron lover, but either way, it is fun to consider how the Lakers will ultimately put together their roster moving forward..
Thoughts, Opinions, Ideas??
Why in the world would the Lakers bring back Howard after the way he treated them in his last game with them …
I think the Lakers will continue with interesting FAs, like kapono, thronson and I are liking. If Klay or Kemba wanted to show up nobody would object! But they will probably want to stay.
At least you included Wagner which HR forgot about… he could be getting PT quickly with his 3pt shooting.
Wake up bravesfan.
Even my clueless girlfriend knows Kawhi Leonard is coming to the Lakers in a trade. So that’s a huge transaction you’re forgetting about. There’s no way LeBron Burns a year at this age waiting for a maybe free agent or 2 next year.
Klay Thompson staying with the Warriors. Every basketball fan on the face of the Earth knows that.
The only X Factor is DeMarcus Cousins. Is he willing to take less money for one year on a make-good contract and try to get Max next summer after he show he’s healthy.
My out on a limb projection is Rondo to the Lakers.
Leonard is going to the Lakers for what? What do Lakers have that the Spurs covet as a piece to build around?
Here is a more pressing question for you Lakers fans:
Who will be their head coach? Lavar, LeBron or Luke?
Your #2 is ridiculous. You really believe Charlotte will take that for Walker?
Don’t quit your day job.
Klay? LOL!
Wow lol I’m on fire with these
You’ve been spot on with some of your destination pics. Very nice work !!
Kawhi Lakers?
Rondo?
Randle is gone? Hope not but it seems like it
I doubt they see McGee as a starter. But good get for both sides. LBJ is a magnet for these kinda guys (Lance, Pope and McGee).
Again … who is the LBJ that you speak of ??? LRJ are the initials for LeBron Raymone James and LBJ are the initials of our former President Lyndon Baines Johnson … no charge for the history lesson
For real. Both his nicknames have nothing to do with him or his name. He isn’t the king of anything, and LBJ isn’t short for LeBron full name.
His name is LeBron James. Thus his friends in Cleveland and the media have referred to him as LBJ. That is NOT what I’ve named him. If you go to basketballreference, one of the nicknames listed is LBJ. Shut up.
yeah cleve get out of here. get off your pedestal. why dont you bring it up with james on twitter. you know exactly who he was referring too. why is odell beckham called ODB?
Lakermania is on!!!!
I love the name for this group. Great job Austin!
Austin Kent burner account?
One of many!
Haha jk you bring a fun flair to HRm glad you’re aboard. Miss the 90’s trade series.
Still not a 3-pt shooter among those signed.
Calling Cavs for Korver right now buddy.
Korver will show the youngsters how a perimeter player can get busy setting picks at the elbow to get shooting space.
Did you watch Korver in the finals? He’s done, at least on big stage.
Isn’t JJ Redick available? Big money last year, minimum contract this year?
There’s plenty of minutes to earn your pay in before the finals.
Redick did not sign for the min, why would he? Not like Cousins basically did.
I was guessing that Reddick might take the minimum, considering he made so much money last year.
They should theoretically have enough shooting as this comes together. They need another defensive PG off the bench, maybe a depth shooter, and they should be looking pretty good…
Whoever their PG is(Ball), KCP, Ingram, LeBron, Lopez/Cousins. Kuzma, Hart, Lance, Javale off the bench. Whoever the defensive PG they get is, the depth piece, and the 2 shooters they drafted pretty much round out the roster, and that looks pretty good assuming health. LeBron makes them a contender by himself
Cousins wasn’t an option as soon as KCP got 12.5M. Even if they renounce Randle, Boogie ain’t taking 8-10M.
KCP – Rich Paul guy, they always get overpaid.
Might as well retain Randle and Lopez though. From 39M to Luxury Tax in 60 seconds.
If they renounce Randle and stretch Deng, what space does that give them?
Also, I like KCP there. I think he was a big part of their defense last year, and he can shoot
Minimum salary! Why didn’t he re-sign with Warriors. Makes no sense
Its called “new challenges.”
He’s got two rings with the Warriors. He’s played that role.
Lebron called and said they need him. It’s always a great feeling to be wanted.
Wooow…another former MVP
another former champions winner
Good blow…. i meant…good job lakers…
Now lakers just need to waive lavar…
Lavar always playing with his son ball
Luke. Can’t the Lakers go over the salary cap to sign Brook Lopez and Julius Randle?
Randle, yes. Lopez, no (they’ll have to renounce his cap hold to fit in LeBron + KCP).
Kobe jumps out of retirement
Wonder how loud mouth Daddy Ball handling the James signing
if one of the first things you thought of after lebron signed with the lakers was “i wonder what lavar ball thinks”, then your part of the problem
And this is the big move that puts the Lakers over the top! Lol… Lakers are a 6 seed at best in the West.
Cant wait for Labron and Lavar to get into it, this is a ticking timevomb
Kawhi Leonard.
Why is everyone forgetting he’s coming?
All this other talk is nonsense.
Wake up people.
Stephenson and ignorant Ball will be in a fist fight with in 3 months. Juicy. LBJ wanted boogie….magic gets McGee.
Austin forgot the rookie Wagner when listing the centers? Wagner, Mcgee, and Zubac.
Anyway the Lakers got him with the Cavs r1 pick. That trade also helped the Lakers put this all together by dishing Clarkson, and Wagner will be more useful than Nance if he continues to be the good 3pt shooter.
When McGee hurt the Cavs in the finals, Altman should have been clued into Mcgee’s value and taken him from GSW. It would have been cheap. But no, Mcgee hurt them again. I think Lebron thought the same thing, and asked for him now. He should be able to keep Mcgee sorted.
Am I picking on Altman yet? Yes? Well he has 5-10 choices to make coming up, we will see.
Updated the story to include Wagner (I’d pictured him as a stretch four, but I guess he’s considered more of a center).
Best wishes. Thanks for the ship.
But omg this stuff is funny. All they need is Sagging PP back to make this lake show more a freak show.
Lance and LaVar. Mwahahahahahahha!
Definitely don’t like at all Javale, I think is a clown & totally useless… but having said that I can understand why to go to the showtime for the minimum instead of staying in Golden State, that is probably his best ever decision.
One positive factor with Mcgee is Luke Walton coached him in Oakland. He knows exactly how he operates and is motivated and all the rest of that.
So much for the “I want to remain in Oakland” quote!
The Warriors didn’t step up and sign him yet. They are waiting for a moderately impressive move. They have someone in mind for their roster that might cost a few bucks, maybe a big man.
Javale had to get his now while it’s on the table.
No way the Warriors were going to keep both David West – he will play another year – and JaVale. Still, JaVale was fun to watch…
He’s dumb as a rock. He could ride the bench and basically be guaranteed a 4th and 5th title within the next 2 or 3 years. He could end up with 6 rings when it’s all said and done. LeBron isn’t getting passed golden state.
Can anyone explain why there is a 1.5 mil cap hit for McGee when his deal is for 2.4 mil and he hasn’t signed yet? Also does the 1.5 mil cap hit affect how much cap room they have to use? I keep hearing they have 5.4 mill cap space before Svi deal, but I see only 4.8 mil on my spreadsheet with the 1.5 mil cap it.
McGee’s deal isn’t official yet. It’ll be finalized after the Lakers use up their remaining cap room (which it looks like they just did by signing Svi and Lance). Since it’s a minimum salary deal, McGee’s contract can be completed without cap room. And since it’s a one-year, minimum-salary deal, the league covers the portion of the salary that exceeds the minimum salary for a player with two years of experience, which is why the cap hit is only $1.5MM despite the $2.4MM salary.
First let me thank you Luke for responding – it is had to find Cap info. I got that the hold is limited to the 2 year min. Thx
Still a tiny bit confusing though. If they sign Svi and Lance for the remaining cap room, which is discounted by that 1.5 mil hold, and then sign McGee to the 2.3 mil vet min exception, does that leave 1.5 mil in cap space, or do they sign Svi and Lance using that 1.5 mil? I hope my confusion isn’t too confusing!
I had the Lakers at $5.5MM in space not counting Svi, Lance, and McGee. (It would’ve been $6.3MM in space but they had to account for an empty roster charge). If Lance and Svi signed for about $6MM in total, that leaves the Lakers with about $300-400K, which probably won’t be used for anything. From that point, they can start adding minimum-salary guys or use the room exception. So I’d expect McGee and his $1.5MM cap hit to be added shortly, at which point the Lakers would be officially “over the cap.”
Hi Luke, using link to spotrac.com numbers, with McGee’s 1.5 mil cap hold and no roster cap hold (once LBJ signed + McGee hold = 12 roster spots) I have 4,831,138 cap space. If I am incorrect on McGee’s cap hit counting as a roster spot, then 4 mil won’t cover Lance.
If they signed Lance 4,449,000 to cap space instead of room, that would leave 382,138, which matches spotrac.com.
Since second round picks can sign above the cap, then Svi uses up the 382,138 and the balance goes over the cap. Then McGee signs at 2,393,887 vet min exception and that uses up his 1.5 mil cap hit with the balance going over the cap. You could reverse Svi & McGee and get the same result. However, if they signed Lance to cap space instead of the room exception, then he would have to sign first.
How did I do?
Since they are all signed now, we will have to wait until spotrac.com updates to see if the room exception is left for that last roster spot.
The Lakers actually did have to use their cap room to sign Svi since they gave him a three-year deal. Couldn’t go over the cap with that one, which is why he was the first of the three to sign.
We don’t know exactly how much money he got, but let’s say it was $1.4MM. That would have left $4.9MM to fit Lance in, which they did next. Then they went over the cap to sign McGee last since he was the only one of three that didn’t require any cap room. There was no cap hold on the books for McGee until he officially signed (at which point his $1.5MM was added). They’ll still have their room exception.
Nothing more needs to be said about the crazy NBA salary cap system then what you just typed!
Ahh, the 1.5 mill cap hit for McGee did not reduce the cap space. Removing the 1.5 mil and adding 1 roster hold I finally got to the 5.5 mil. Now it all almost makes sense.
I read again your earlier post that the league covers the over 2 years portion of McGee’s salary, and I think that handles my confusions.
Got that SeniorEditor?
Thanks, again for your help Luke.