JaVale McGee, Los Angeles Lakers, Marc Gasol, Toronto Raptors. (Mandatory Credit: Ashley Landis/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports)
The Los Angeles Lakers are trading JaVale McGee to the Cleveland Cavaliers to make room.
By trading JaVale McGee to the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Los Angeles Lakers can sign Marc Gasol.
McGee had spent the last two season in Los Angeles, winning his third career NBA Championship in the Orlando earlier this fall. By going to the Cavaliers, it has freed up enough cap space for the Lakers to sign the big man away from the Toronto Raptors. Gasol is the younger brother of Lakers legend Pau Gasol, who won two NBA Finals alongside the late Kobe Bryant in the early 2010s.
JaVale McGee will take some of Tristan Thompson’s Cavaliers minutes
With center Tristan Thompson signing with the Boston Celtics in his impending free agency, trading for McGee makes sense for the Cavaliers. He has a championship pedigree and is a force on the boards like Thompson had been for years in Cleveland. Though the Cavaliers are not yet competitive, adding a savvy veteran like McGee could help them come along in 2020-21.
As for Gasol going to the Lakers, this may help LeBron James win his fifth NBA Finals, as well as giving Los Angeles a chance to go back-to-back. While Gasol spent the bulk of his career with the Memphis Grizzlies, he did win a title two years ago after being traded to the Raptors. Fate would have it he was traded to the Grizzlies for his older brother without ever playing a game for L.A.
This series of moves helps the Lakers stay in contention for another Larry O’Brien Trophy.