Dallas Mavericks Waive Javale McGee

By: Marselis Davis

This week, the Mavericks have made another decision to alter their roster. The Dallas Mavericks have waived their backup center in Javale McGee. Here is some more detail about why this happened, what McGee’s future in the league looks like, and what ramifications it may have for the Dallas Mavericks moving forward.

Why This Happened

Frankly, this was a rather unsurprisingly waive made by the Dallas Mavericks. After having acquired McGee during the 2022 offseason, the Mavericks were hoping that he would be a suitable center who could provide some defense and good rolling to the rim. However, McGee ended up having a rather underwhelming season with the Mavericks and he did not provide the impact on the floor that they had hoped. Eventually, the Mavericks decided to remove him from the rotation entirely. 

After the Mavericks missed the playoffs, it was clear that McGee likely be waived or traded during the offseason. Now that the Mavericks have been making more moves to improve the size on their roster, it is easier for them to waive McGee

Javale McGee’s Future 

Now that McGee is a free agent, the question is: What teams would look to sign him? So far, the Warriors have reportedly been the team most actively interested in acquiring him. This is no surprise, as the Warriors are always looking for more size to their roster and McGee has won two championships with the team before, so he has had past success during his time in Golden State. However, with McGee’s career appearing to be on the decline, the Warriors may be hesitant to reacquire him again.

There have also been minor speculations that the Lakers and Suns may have an interest in McGee. McGee also has had championship success with the Lakers, winning the 2020 title as a quality defensive center on the team. However, it is unlikely that the Lakers will seek to sign him again, given that they already have a quality roster and McGee would not likely add much to the rotation. The Suns have also not made strong considerations as of late to sign McGee, and given that the team has already signed Bol Bol, they may not consider him for their backup center behind Deandre Ayton. Therefore, there is a possibility that McGee’s time in the league may be coming to an end.

Impact on the Mavericks

With McGee gone, this means that the Mavericks are planning to have Dwight Powell and Dereck Lively II be their primary centers in the rotation. Since McGee was mostly out of their rotation last season anyway, his absence will likely not cause many issues for the Mavericks moving forward. If anything, it will likely just give more time to Lively II to develop on the court.

Overall, this was an expected and sensible decision by the Mavericks. It will be interesting to see in the coming months where McGee’s next team will be, if any. Still, McGee has had a pretty successful career up to this point as a 3x champion, so at least if his career were to end, it would have still been a solid career. But as for the Mavericks, this move should not cause much issue for them moving forward.