Would JaVale McGee Be A Good Fit For the Miami Heat?

By Christopher Cruz | Mar 6, 2015

Jan 31, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Nuggets center JaVale McGee (34) during the game against the Charlotte Hornets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /

JaVale McGee was recently released by the Philadelphia 76ers, and is being courted by a variety of playoff teams. Among them are the Miami Heat and the Dallas Mavericks. The Heat are in the process of revision, and are looking for a way ramp up their big man situation after Chris Bosh went out for the rest of the season.

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Right now, the Heat are doing quite well with the play of Hassan Whiteside, who is averaging 16 points per game and nearly 16 rebounds per game in the last five games. All of that is coupled with the three blocks per game that the big man is accruing during those games.

The power forward that plays alongside of Whiteside is Udonis Haslem, who is well passed his prime at this point. He is a fan favorite in Miami, and will always be taken care of there. But going forward, especially as Miami looks for the future in the playoffs, they are going to need someone with more youth and athleticism.

Haslem can shoot from midrange, and is able to bully players down low, but lacks the size of some of the other plays he faces. What he brings to the table is toughness, but toughness is not enough for the playoffs. Other than Haslem, the Heat have Chris Andersen who comes off the bench and plays some good minutes. Andersen is a good player that plays with a lot of energy, but is really not good for more than the 19 or 20 minutes per game that he plays. They are in need of someone else.

In comes in JaVale McGee. If the Heat are able to get their hands on McGee, he could do a lot of good for the team. He is a legitimate seven feet tall, and other than this season, where he barely played, has averaged close to two blocks per game for his career.

If used properly, McGee could provide the Heat with some good offense. That is, McGee has the size, athleticism and the wingspan to dunk on most opposing players and is able to get good shots as well. In the 2011-2012 season, he averaged 11.9 points per game in only 27 minutes every game.

Thus, defensively and offensively McGee would really help the Heat. Their size is still relatively small, and McGee would be a great addition. At the very least, he could play behind Whiteside. Just because Whiteside is playing incredibly well, he shouldn’t be used all game long just to try to get as much as possible from him. The key word for the Heat should be preservation, and one way to do that would be to get McGee.

This would especially help the second unit, which can sometimes struggle on both sides of the court. Although Henry Walker and Michael Beasley have been wonderful additions, the fact is that against the Los Angeles Lakers, Beasley shot 1-for-6 from the field, and Walker shot 3-for-10 from the field. Chris Andersen also shot 2-for-8 from the field. This isn’t what one might consider normative, but they still need some help in the second unit.

McGee could be that help.

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