Life In The DPC!

The Chicago Bulls won the NBA draft lottery and will likely bring K-States Michael Beasley to the United Center. The University of Nevada’s former big man, JaVale McGee, left after his sophomore season for the chance to be a lottery pick and per ESPN’s Chad Ford he will plucked by the Washington Wizards at the 18th pick in the first round.

McGee is another wildcard. Long, athletic and skilled, he has huge upside and can fly up and down the court. But his thin frame and lack of position mean he’s a few years away from contributing. - Chad Ford

Any speculation at this stage is a crapshoot, except maybe Beasley and Derrick Rose going within the first two picks. But I do feel the need to throw in my two cents about McGee and his draft prospects. There is little doubt that McGee is a physically gifted player. His combination of height, wingspan and athletic ability makes most talent evaluator foam at the mouth unfortunately he has shown more promise than results. This is to be expected since he is a 20-year old that played sparingly in his freshman season and then went on to average 14.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg in his sophomore campaign at Nevada. But for each highlight reel worthy dunk or shot block there were just as many instances where McGee disappeared in games or punted balls in the stand. Okay, there was one punting incident.

As a Nevada alum I have an extreme bias with regards towards McGee’s decision to go pro and this is based on my selfish desires as a fan and how he could have dominated Lawlor Events Center for two more seasons. But alas I will wish McGee all the best because you go to college to mature and develop human capital and McGee has definitely developed into an elite talent in his field.

In an ideal world he would get drafted by the Golden State Warriors and become the perfect big man for Nellie Ball. You gotta think that any coach that can turn Matt Barnes into a scoring threat can do wonders for McGee.