Aside from all the boneheaded plays he has made in the past, McGee to me is really the X-Factor from taking the Nuggets from a first-round playoff team to a potential conference final visit.
Reasons why I believe McGee should be given increased minutes:
- He played really well last season in the playoffs up against all-star big men (Andrew Bynum & Pau Gasol).
- Sky-rocketing potential and apparently worked on his post moves in the offseason with Hakeem.
- The Nuggets gave him a 4yr/$44 million contract- You don't offer that kind of money and only play the guy 19 minutes per game ...
- His Player Efficiency Rating is tremendous. Currently ranking #8 with 21.80. Starter Kosta Koufos is coming in at #151 (14.61).
- He is not struggling. He is averaging 10.8 points (.555% FG), 5.7 REB, 1.8 BLK- now imagine those numbers when he plays 30+ minutes.
And even in today's game against the Hawks. Starter Kosta Koufos was out with illness, and instead, Mozgov was the replacement. Mozgov ended up playing 27 minutes compared to McGee's 23 minutes even though Mozgov has only averaged 11.6 minutes per game, with several DNP's.
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