Golden State Warriors: Ranking the team’s center options

6. JaVale McGee

JaVale McGee is a defensive nightmare. After making moderate strides late last season as an effective rim protector, he has reverted to his worst tendencies in 2017-18.

He is regularly out of position, and attempts to make up for it with impossible blocks. This renders him one of the worst rebounding big men in the NBA, despite his physical ability to reach higher than just about anyone.

Maybe he feels a need to make an impact in even more erratic minutes than before, or maybe it’s just one of the team’s many symptoms of championship hangover. Whatever the reason, it is harder and harder to justify his niche role. Sure, he’s still the team’s best alley-oop threat and floor sprinting big, but Bell is not far behind as a lob target, nor is Kevon Looney as a rim-runner. Given their other strengths, they both rank ahead of McGee.

He still comes in ahead of Durant, solely because McGee next to Green and Durant is far better than Durant next to Casspi and Iguodala.