The Denver Nuggets traded Nene for JaVale McGee earlier this season. The Denver Nuggets are going to Los Angeles to play a Game Seven against the Los Angeles Lakers. I'm not saying the first move here caused that second effect, but it certainly did nothing to hurt those chances.
JaVale McGee is a guy it's becoming harder and harder to put into a box. Not because he's too tall for most boxes, and even if he could fit he'd certainly jump out, but because of what he just might become afterall. He's literally one of the best pure athletes of any size in today's NBA from a running and jumping standpoint. In addition to that he's a seven footer. You don't need to be Dr. Jack Ramsay to put those two together and deduce that he maybe should be a superstar. He isn't yet, but maybe this move to Denver will help him get there.
It appears the Nuggets think so at least, according to the Denver Post earlier this week. Even before McGee helped Denver blow LA out in Game Six, the front office was already saying they wanted JaVale back long-term.
Opportunities. That was the plan when Denver acquired McGee from Washington. The Nuggets' front office knew McGee had an abundance of athleticism, but he developed bad habits playing for a poor team.
"Our intent was to get JaVale for the future, not just for three months," Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri said.
Asked Wednesday whether McGee, a restricted free agent this summer, is a player he wants to lock down for the future, Ujiri said, "One hundred percent."
Will he ever mature as a person to be serious enough to max out his skill-set, that is the question Denver appears to think he is answering with a resounding yes right now. Can a team tolerate his mother at games making strange comments to media sometimes too? They also don't appear to be worried about that either in regards to JaVale. If he helps them beat Kobe and the Lakers in Game Seven, it just might take a lot of dollars to keep him too. I hope he stays though, he seems to be trending upward right now, and that's a good thing for everybody. Except maybe Andrew Bynum right now.
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