Cavs should be satisfied with JaVale McGee’s activity so far

JaVale McGee has been pretty solid thus far for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

In his first couple of games with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the regular season, JaVale McGee has been good, to a large extent, I believe. McGee, who was a trade acquisition last month via deal with the Los Angeles Lakers, only appeared in one game in preseason, and was not physically with the Cavs in a significant chunk of training camp.

He’s done pretty nice work for the Wine and Gold early on, though.

In three games, McGee’s had points per contest, and has shown above-the-rim finishing as a cutter/interior threat, and shown some touch. He’s seemingly been a nice screener both on and off-ball, too, as he’s proven to be much of his career.

And on the defensive end, while McGee has, as often has been the case, committed a bunch of fouls, he’s altered shots and gotten his hands on some shot attempts. He’s brought some toughness when he’s been in there as Andre Drummond’s primary matchup at the 5 on that end, and as a rebounder, too.

The Cavs should be satisfied with McGee’s play early on.

There’s been head-scratchers on occasion, of which McGee has been proned to still at times the past few years, albeit in a general sense, he’s been what I’d imagine the Cavaliers thought he’d end up being.

On both ends of the floor and as again, a screener, the Cavs should be satisfied his activity. McGee had 13 points versus the Charlotte Hornets in the 2020-21 opener, although that was all in the first half.

But in that one, I don’t want to discount that in his 19 minutes, he went six-of-seven from the field, had seven rebounds, a steal and a block, and while I’m not a huge plus-minus guy, him being a plus-14 was fairly notable. He did make things happen in those minutes, so in that case, that didn’t seem to be necessarily misleading then.

Against the Detroit Pistons, McGee did have more foul issues, sure, and obviously you don’t want guys fouling out in 14 minutes.

McGee did have a few timely cuts, and while you don’t want him really going coast-to-coast, clearly, it’s apparent that when McGee is in games, he’s going to give you energy in spurts. He did have 11 points in those 14 minutes, for what it’s worth.

And defensively, while the fouling isn’t ideal, he has deterred drivers at times in his minutes, and it does seem that his presence does affect the ability to hit passes over the top and/or he can affect passes going to cutters on the interior. McGee, who had six rebounds and two blocks in Sunday’s win over the Philadelphia 76ers, albeit Joel Embiid-less W, was active defensively and helping as a rotator, too.

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That’s with his 7-foot frame and 7-foot-6 wingspan, realistically, in an overall sense, though, and McGee appears to be a good communicator on that end.

That should aid players such as Darius Garland, Collin Sexton, Kevin Love, Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman and others. That’s when Love (calf strain, and left early on in Sunday’s game) and Okoro (foot sprain) are back in the fold, of which we’ll see about, anyhow.

Moreover, I’d think that McGee, although he could feasibly be a piece Cleveland could eventually trade at some point, with him set to be expiring, could perhaps end up sticking through the trade deadline even and/or maybe be re-signed.

The 32-year-old still looks to have plenty of bounce left, and on both ends of the floor, in spurts, he can still provide a roller/dunker and screening presence, to go with legitimate rim protector.

Circling back, from my perspective, the Cavaliers should be satisfied with how McGee has played early in this 2020-21 season.

His solid reserve 5 play, at least by and large, to go with his leadership, could very well be gifts that keep on giving, too.

Albeit this early season performance so far just further drives home how he, to go with a 2026 second-round pick, was a nice acquisition from L.A.