Anybody know why we traded for McGee, who will make $4.2 M this season, when Hassan Whiteside signed with the Kings a few days later for one year at $2.3 M? Both will be free agents next year.
Whiteside started all 67 games for Portland last year averaging 30 mpg, 15.5 pts, 13.5 rebs, and 2.9 blocked shots, which led the league. He also shot 62.1% from the field. He's a year younger than McGee who averaged 16.6 minutes, 6.6 pts, 3.9 rebs, and 1.4 blocked shots. If you project McGee to 30 minutes he's still behind Whiteside in all those categories.
I suppose the advantage of trading for McGee as opposed to signing the free agent Whiteside is by trading we got rid of the contracts of Bell and McKinnie, who we had no use for this year. It opened up a roster spot for Dotson.
But I was intrigued by the idea of adding the best shot blocker in the NBA for only $2.3 M, especially when he also scores and rebounds. It's crazy that he's getting $2.3 M while Drummond, who had similar numbers last year, is getting $28 M. In fact, Drummond had a lower shooting percentage, way fewer blocked shots, and more than double the turnovers as Whiteside.