Kings interested in signing Javale McGee

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The_Jamal

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#31
#31
Capt. Factorial said:
Last year, Len was dreadful until the last 8 games of the season.

For his career, his per36 numbers (REB, BLK, PTS) are:
11.2 1.8 14.5

In his first 18 games, he went:
10.1 0.0 7.9

But in those last 8 games, when he finally got some time (these represented 8 of his top 9 total minutes games of the year) he went:
15.0 3.9 10.5

Less scoring than usual (something we didn't need) but the defensive contribution is really nice there.

The fact that Len had such a huge turnaround in terms of consistent playing time, and playing 8 games in a row instead of sporadic appearances, combined with those eye-popping numbers (as well as the "eye test" in those games), keeps suggesting to me that he may have been dealing with an injury that just wasn't publicized for most of the season. That turnaround is just remarkable in many ways. And it leaves me hope that he might actually have that in him again for next year. I'll take 13 minutes with 5.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks all year long without even giving a second look to Queta/Noel/McGee/Skal.

I recognize that giving Len something like 13 minutes on a regular basis would mean we'd have to play Lyles mostly at the 4 and essentially puts a minutes squeeze on everybody (like, any way you slice it that would take, on average, 1+ minute away from each dude in our presumed 9-man rotation). Try to get time out of other guys like Duarte or Jones and maybe you have to knock off another minute or two. But hey, maybe we can reduce a bit of wear and tear along the way, since we need to be fresh for a big playoff run.
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All true and I think he can still be valuable in certain match-ups. But if the answer is play Len or play Lyles (because I think Vezenkov gets every opportunity to carve a 20+MPG role out the gate), the answer is Lyles 95/100 times.

Len to me is a perfect end of bench vet that still can fill a niche role when it's called upon. Doesn't complain, stayed ready when he got his shot and gave a spark at the end of the year. That doesn't mean I want him taking a back-up C role full time and playing 600+ minutes this season.

And for me, getting Lyles at the 5 isn't just about getting him and Vezenkov on the floor, I think it's just flat out a better position for him and fit with Fox/Monk attacking the rim. Keegan/Huerter/HB dance around the court off-ball to play from Sabonis while I think small-ball 5 with Lyles gives Fox and Monk an opportunity to really unlock their downhill game and just fully get 5 out on the floor.
 
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