JaVale McGee

[cwb3]

My first thoughts on seeing our pick was:

1) Holy crap they really changed the look of the Real GM site since I checked here last!

2) McGee seems a LOT like Blatche. . .he and Blatche and Pech "appear" at first glance to bring a lot of the same things to the table.

3) That might not be so bad, in that it may push Blatche and Pech to step up a bit.

4) It looks like McGee has the potential to grow more in terms of size and as a more classic post player and defender.

I was surprised to read some of the quick-bash-responses here and on the WashPost Wiz blog. This guy could turn out to be a decent player, and we seem to be stocking up on raw, tall, athletic 4's and 5's, hopefully one of more of them will pan out for us. We know what Etan gives us at the 4 and 5 and its not good enough. Songalia can play the 4 in certain situations quite well, but not when we need a banger inside.

5) Our summer league team OUGHT to be great fun to watch

6) What exactly does "cash considerations" mean anyhow?

[Wizards2Lottery]

We need to start thinking of a handle for JaVale McGee. I think he's here to stay.
How about:
JM
JVMG
Java

your ideas?

I like JV. Short and simple, has a nice ring to it.

[Soup's Uncle]

I like McVale

[RickRoll_inDC]

is it so wrong to have a JMac and a DMac?

or would that be too confusing?

or how about JMG?

[omegatronic3]

with the 18 pick you aint gettin a sure fire stud....you either take a serviceable rotation guy...or you gamble on upside.
I think we would have taken Hibbert if he was there and he would have given us a slightly different look that Haywood...but he wasnt gonna be anyhting other than a serviceable backup.

This guy Mcgee seems to me like a Haywood clone...good size..long shotblocker. If nothing else hopefully this guy can spell haywood without having to put Blache at the center spot. They compare him to Bynum or O'Brian....thats a pretty big gap so hopefully hes on the Bynum side of that equation.

Someone said if you're gonna gamble...gamble big...and thats what EG did. Gable on a big guy with potential..because a big is a big even if he doesnt develop whereas if you gamble on a small with upside and they dont pan out..you're screwed.

I ain't gonna hate but I see D-league for this guy next year. In the meantime lets hope last years crew is ready.

We got a bunch of bigs so hopefully one of them pans out.

[Bickerstaff]

You can't teach size, right? I'm hoping this pick pans out, but we won't know for a while, I imagine. ANyway, optimistic as I might be, there's a nickname already out there that's pretty hard to resist:

http://www.adultswim.com/shows/assy/

[RickRoll_inDC]

imo, he's more of either a Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby. He's got the shot blocking of Chandler and the mid range J of Camby. I can't wait to actually see him in summer league along with N1, DMac, and Pech.

[RickRoll_inDC]

You can't teach size, right? I'm hoping this pick pans out, but we won't know for a while, I imagine. ANyway, optimistic as I might be, there's a nickname already out there that's pretty hard to resist:

http://www.adultswim.com/shows/assy/

wow, bickerstaff, real mature......

[vtime]

He's more of a scorer than Camby or Chandler, he has a true post game with tons of moves, and he can shoot with ridiculous range. His problem is just being challenged. He just needs to challenged by better competition so he can play his best ball. He's a stud. Great ballhandling. He has the talent to seriously be the best player in this draft. He needs a chance though. Riding the bench would likely kill his confidence early and he may never recover. Let him play and if he fails, then its his own fault. Nobody gets better riding the pine.

[Wiz99]

JaVale McBenchWarmer

I love the pick, but realistically he's riding the pine next year. And rookies should get a little ribbing.

So riffing off Todd's McBenchWarmer, let's just call him McB. Rhymes with McGee.

McB

[doclinkin]

let's just call him McB. Rhymes with McGee.

McB

I been pronouncing it Javale 'Mc-Ji' (like 'golly Gee') in honor of our resident disaster addict. Maybe Ji-Mac for short.

But man he's got a gloomy puss on him. Hangdog. I may just call him Big Mopey.

[MJG]

Now that the draft effect has worn off, I've decided to just not worry about McGee for the time being. Whether you like the pick or not (I still don't), it'll be at least a year and probably two before he even begins to show his true colors. No reason to really get too excited either way.

[CrankyTodd]

imo, he's more of either a Tyson Chandler or Marcus Camby. He's got the shot blocking of Chandler and the mid range J of Camby. I can't wait to actually see him in summer league along with N1, DMac, and Pech.

When I watched the highlights, I definitely got a Tyson Chandler/Camby vibe in terms of lanky athleticism. The only thing is, both of those players are strong defenders, and McGee is apparently a very poor man defender at the moment. Hopefully it's something that can be fixed. The guy looks like he has all the athletic tools he needs to be successful in the league.

[LyricalRico]

^ Was Chandler a good defender when the Bulls first drafted him? I don't remember.

I guess it doesn't really matter when you consider EJ's "pack the paint" scheme only asks the center to be a help defender. In that case McGee is great!

[BruceO]

you know he wants to win rookie of the year right? Hell of a year to try that what with Beasley about to get better numbers than durant. And rose getting reigns of a chicago team. He has the tools to be special. At no 18 we have the luxury to groom some people

[The Consiglieri]

Just got back from work saw our pick and i am about to jump off a cliff.

So much for grabbing someone that can help us win NOW.

How could he have? Who represented that at #18? We've already heard ad infinitum that this draft was 2 deep in all stars, had 1-2 players that might be all stars, and then about another 20-30 guys that could go in the first round but that noone, anywhere had a handle on, and nobody viewed as anything particularly special. Whose gonna help us win now in this draft? Noone. To me he did the next best thing, getting a guy, who if everything breaks right, could help us a ton in a few years when Antawn and Etan are gone, and we need two-three answers from the pack that is Pech, Blatche, Sogaila and Haywood. If we can't add a piece that would be a difference maker now (and I dont believe we could I think we're pretty set on starters and most of the reserves), then the next best thing would be adding a guy who down the road could be especially valuable, particularly if Blatche never grows into anything special.

I agree w/ripping to pieces round 2. Not so much the McGee pick. If you can't get a stud you get upside for the future, you can always add reserves through cheap signings in free agency and the 2nd round. Pay attention to what happened to the Redskins after Gibbs, to the Caps after '98. These teams didn't continue to draft pieces that down the road could be valuable and by the time the vets couldn't cut it anymore ('93 for the redskins about '02 for the Caps w/the aberration that was '03) there were no new guys groomed to take over starting roles and be difference makers for the next generation squad. McGee, Blatche and Young are all potential building blocks, hell Pech might be too (since when is a guy, permanently manure, simply because he struggled as a rookie (after coming from the Ukraine league if memory serves) in no small part because he was injured much of the year? Even Pech could be valuable. They've got a bunch of building blocks in those four, potentially another in D Mac, and a vet core as well. I don't have a problem w/that. My only issue again is tossing away the 2nd rounder as if the franchise is a finished product. Three straight exits at the hands of a very 1 dimensional cavs team says there is plenty of room for guys like Bill Walker. To sell him, rather than at least trade the pick was absoulutely criminal and an insult to fans, and I dont care if 3 or 4 other teams did it. That did piss me off.

[Rafael122]

I saw a video of him, definitely a Tyson Chandler clone, but McGee seems to have a better post game, which already makes him better than the bigs we have now. Very fluid, active on the boards, and he can run the floor.

He just needs to get coached up.

[Dat2U]

You can't teach size, right? I'm hoping this pick pans out, but we won't know for a while, I imagine. ANyway, optimistic as I might be, there's a nickname already out there that's pretty hard to resist:

http://www.adultswim.com/shows/assy/

Haha! That show is crazy. I love it. I don't know about anyone else, but that's a great nickname IMO.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Now that the draft effect has worn off, I've decided to just not worry about McGee for the time being. Whether you like the pick or not (I still don't), it'll be at least a year and probably two before he even begins to show his true colors. No reason to really get too excited either way.

+1

[The Consiglieri]

Just a few pre-draft quotes from the local paper (I live just outside Lake Tahoe, Nevada side, about an hour from the UNR campus).

Pists director of basketball ops Tony Ronzone: "I think JaVale is going to do really well. I like him a lot. He is a very talented player. You can't teach what he has with his length and his explosiveness and he also comes from a family with professional pedigree." He added that he's confident McGee will become a good player, "JaVale likes to play the game and that means he is going to be in the gym, working on his game and getting better."

Jay Bilas added, "I would be on him going in the lottery. Some of the talk about him slipping down the board has been smoke screens which happens at times."

In the same artilce Dick Vitale is quoted: "Somebody is going to take a shot at his potential in the first round. He is all about potential. He has great upside, there is no doubt about that, but he has to refine his offensive game. You can't teach some of things he has."

I quoted rather than searched a link as the gazzette makes past papers generally cost $$$ to track down. Today's paper i figure sourced quotes so I decided not to add todays gazette journal's notes.

Anyway, don't know if you guys care, just figured I'd add some local flavor to what's already been dicussed.