Pamela McGee played for the WNBA’s Sacramento Monarchs and averaged 10.6 points a game in her season there.
Now her son JaVale McGee is headed to Sacramento as well. As had been rumored, McGee has agreed to sign with the Sacramento Kings for next season once he clears waivers, a story broken by Chris Haynes of TNT/Bleacher Report and confirmed by multiple other sources. While this will be a veteran minimum deal, there are no details yet on whether it is fully guaranteed.
McGee, 35, was waived and stretched by the Mavericks, who gave him their mid-level exception last summer to provide some needed size and physicality in the paint. He didn’t mesh, and he was out of the rotation a couple of months into the season. He was still owed $11.7 million, by stretching him the Mavericks will have McGee on their books for five seasons at $2.3 million.
Kings training camp just got a lot more interesting.
Not only because McGee can be an entertaining person to have around, but also because Sacramento has set up a genuine competition for minutes as the backup center. Domantas Sabonis will start and close games, plus get all the minutes he wants in between. After that, Alex Len has a guaranteed contract and will get some of those backup minutes, but he is going to have to earn them. The Kings are now bringing to camp a three-time World Champion in McGee (on a team looking to take a step forward in the playoffs, his voice could be valuable), plus partially guaranteed contracts for Nerlens Noel and Neemias Queta. Trey Lyles is also on the roster and can play some small-ball five again.
NBA training camps can often be perfunctory, with guaranteed contracts and roles already set before camp opens. Sacramento seems headed toward a genuine competition, one worth watching.
