Could JaVale McGee make the team?

The Warriors have signed veteran JaVale McGee. Could he find a spot on their team.

The Golden State Warriors need a rim protector, after trading away Andrew Bogut and letting Festus Ezeli walk in free agency.

They have come to an agreement with free agent JaVale McGee, giving him the opportunity to make the team out of training camp. McGee, 28, played 34 games for the Dallas Mavericks last season after missing the first 13 games of the year due to a stress fracture in his tibia.

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McGee doesn’t have a guaranteed spot, but he does have a chance.

The Warriors only really have two true centers on their team right now: Zaza Pachulia and Anderson Varejao. The recently signed David West will probably see some minutes at the five spot, but he’s undersized. Same with James Michael McAdoo.

The Warriors’ best center is Draymond Green. And he’s truly great at that position, but playing him extended minutes there is unreasonable. The physicality of the position would break him down long before the playoffs start.

So the Warriors are currently in a position where their best center can’t be relied on heavily early on, their presumptive starter is slow, the backup is incompetent, and the other options are all very small.

So there is an opening. The Warriors desperately need a rim protector. They need someone big yet athletic and quick enough to keep up when other teams go to their more athletic lineups.

Enter: JaVale McGee.

McGee is Shaquille O’Neal‘s favorite basketball player. McGee is to blooper reels what Stephen Curry is to highlight reels. Throughout his whole career, he’s done a lot of head-scratching things on a basketball court that makes hoops fans everywhere laugh.

But the market for a decent center for dirt cheap is very thin especially since the Warriors have taken themselves out of the running for Larry Sanders, who’s hoping to make an NBA comeback. They don’t have a lot of options.

Unlike a Sanders, though, McGee has never been considered one of the top guys at his position. As an athletic seven footer, he’s only averaged 5.4 rebounds per game for his career, which isn’t great. But he does block 1.7 shots per game for his career, which could be the rim protection the Warriors are looking for.

While he isn’t an All-Star caliber player, he’s more of a proven vet than other guys. McGee was the starting center on a team that secured the third seed in a tough Western Conference. He still has the leaping ability and athleticism to be a solid contributor.

His duties will be for just one side of the floor and that’s why McGee has a very good chance at making the team. He didn’t play in many games last year after his injury, but if he can get and stay into shape, there’s no reason why the Warriors wouldn’t take a chance on him.

He’d be out there to block shots, grab rebounds, and finish off the occasional alley-oop. McGee’s biggest problems on the basketball court have to do with focus and basketball IQ. In a new system on a team playing for a ring, perhaps he can figure things out. Learning the game from Steve Kerr and Ron Adams while playing alongside Green and Andre Iguodala could do wonders for the vet.

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By most measures, McGee had a better season than Varejao, who will be missing he Rio Olympics in his home country because of injury .So the former-Maverick not only has a chance to make the team, but he could possibly see real minutes if he’s in shape.

Playing with great players makes most guys (especially hard workers) elevate their game. The Warriors are hoping that the team and the culture set will maximize the potential that many see in McGee and minimize the bloopers that we have seen from him.