:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/64679908/1147653482.jpg.0.jpg)
The Los Angeles Lakers have been swiftly filling out their roster with free agent signings since Kawhi Leonard spurned them to sign with the LA Clippers. Danny Green quickly agreed to terms with the team, quickly followed by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope returning to the team for the third season in a row. Joining him back will be JaVale McGee, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN:
JaVale McGee has agreed to return to the Lakers, where he’ll likely start at center, league sources tell ESPN. It’s a two-year, $8.2 million deal, with a player option.
— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) July 6, 2019
McGee was actually pretty good for the Lakers last season when he was healthy, averaging 12 points and 7.5 rebounds on 62.4 percent shooting. The team also didn’t have a true center yet, and McGee was one of the best ones left on the market.
Look, McGee, Caldwell-Pope, Green and whoever else the Lakers bring on in the next few hours as they quickly fill up their cap space aren’t the names fans were hoping for from this offseason. The Lakers aimed high, and this was always the risk they were taking by chasing stars: If they missed, their fallback options weren’t going to be the types of players fans are going to get excited about in comparison to the possibility of Leonard or another star.
Still, it was the right gamble to take, but that’s what it was — a gamble. Gambles don’t always work out, and the Lakers are now trying to salvage a bad beat. Bringing back McGee for relatively cheap is a decent step in that process, even if it’s hard to feel good about it after the gut punch to the team’s hopes that Leonard choosing to go elsewhere was.
For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. Here is a list of every free agent credibly connected to the Lakers so far. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.