The journeyman center was reportedly close to signing a deal with the Boston Celtics after having been released by the Philadelphia 76ers.
After reports surfaced this morning that the Boston Celtics had almost a done deal signing JaVale McGee, tens, maybe even hundreds, of Celtics fans went to go purchase a new JaVale McGee #97 jersey (or whatever number he has to wear because the Celtics have retired most of them).
Well apparently, according to the Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett and Yahoo! Sports’ scoop guru Adrian Wojnarowski, that deal is dead.
This morning the dye had seemed cast, and Danny Ainge had spoken on a weekly radio appearance about acquiring the big-man.
From ESPN:
"“JaVale is a long, athletic guy, and we don’t have that type of player — an above-the-rim offensive and defensive player,” Ainge said during his weekly appearance on Boston sports radio 98.5 The Sports Hub."
Clearly McGee was not chasing a championship right now and is looking to achieve some sort of stability. The Boston Celtics are not the winners that you look for this year if you wanted to contend for the playoffs, which is what McGee had the opportunity to do this season if he signed with someone else.
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One possible location for McGee could have been the Golden State Warriors, who would not turn away an athletic rim protector to come off the bench for Andrew Bogut.
Instead, he was looking to remain a member of the Celtics, which he would have likely done as an integral rotational piece behind Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk.
If JaVale McGee is looking for a deal with multi-year possibilities, than a slew of contenders gets checked off the list for McGee. There will always be a market for a 7 foot rim protector, even one that may cause some chemistry issues in an unsteady locker room.
In any event, people will never forget the JaVale Era in Boston soon.
5 March 2015 – 5 March 2015
[H/T: ESPN]
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