Draft Express looks at JaVale McGee

Our simplified (or simple) take on this kid: Lift, lift and lift followed by footwork, footwork and footwork. There's no way he helps an NBA team next season or possibly even the following one but he will enjoy a long NBA career if he continues to put in the due diligence.

Also, forget the outside jumpers, at least for now. That may become part of his tool set down the road but he must first display he has the strength and the will to defend against his opponent in the paint and also offensively out-maneuver defenders inside with moves/footwork and not just utilizing his amazing athleticism.

As each day goes by, we wonder why the Draft Express site isn't subscription-based?

JaVale McGee Workout: The Big Secret
Rodger Bohn - Director of Prep Scouting
Draft Express
May 20, 2008

DraftExpress was given exclusive access to observe a private workout of Nevada early entrant JaVale McGee at an undisclosed location. McGee has been training away from his collegiate settings for the past six weeks in preparation for the draft, shunning the services of big-name trainers to hone his talents with his agent Roosevelt Barnes.

Some eyebrows were raised after McGee made his decision to choose Barnes to represent him, given that his primary area of expertise is representing NFL players. However, many do not know that Barnes himself was a point guard on Purdue’s final four team of the 1980’s and was a former CBA player (in addition to playing linebacker for the Detroit Lions) before his work as a sports agent. With the assistance of a former CBA coach, Barnes put McGee through a grueling on-court workout that he feels is unparalleled to that any other potential draftees will encounter.

While JaVale McGee’s name has been on the NBA radar all season long, many teams are not quite as familiar with this him as they are other top center prospects from high-major conferences. While Nevada had a large number of games on national television in the 06-07 season due to the presence of All-American Nick Fazekas, they were on national television only a handful of times this past season and die-hards were forced to scour through regional channels to catch a glimpse of McGee. As an unknown compared to his draft counterparts, Barnes said that McGee has earned himself the nickname: “The Big Secret”

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