Updated: The Mavericks are still paying a Kings player millions.

JaVale McGee is still heavily indebted to the Mavericks.

For the Sacramento Kings, who haven’t had a lot of success recently, it’s their second straight 40-win season. Superstars De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis lead the team, so it’s simple to ignore the bench, which has been doing well since the All-Star break.

C JaVale McGee, who rarely sees the floor but offers seasoned leadership to a squad with comparatively little experience, is one of those bench players.

McGee will soon complete his 16th NBA season—a feat that very few people are fortunate enough to accomplish. The three-time champion has enjoyed fantastic contracts along with a career full of success.

McGee has earned around $80 million in his career, and during the past ten years, he has chosen his contracts wisely. In 2015, McGee was waived by the Philadelphia 76ers, but his contract still owed him over $12 million. The large man got what he deliberately wanted—the remaining contract amount—after being cut rather than bought out.

“I’d like not to be taken. It is not a good thing. Upon closer examination, you do not receive your entire investment back in the event of a buyout. Therefore, unless a person is older and wants to go to a contender or whatever, it doesn’t make sense for them to desire to be bought out. I’m not that old. All I want to do is shoot hoops.”

Time travel: over ten years later, the identical circumstance still exists. Before the 2023–24 season began, the Dallas Mavericks cut McGee, despite the fact that the centre still owed them over $11.7 million. Now that McGee’s contract is being paid out over five years, the Mavericks will pay him approximately $2.4 million year until the 2027–2028 season.

Now, part of that money does be offset for Dallas because he signed with Sacramento and is presumably receiving the $3.1 million 15-year veteran minimum salary. In any case, it’s amusing that a team that’s competing against the Kings in the play-in tournament is funding a rival player. The Kings’ front office cut Nerlens Noel and Neemias Queta, two centres towards the bottom of the roster, when they signed McGee. Due to the partially-guaranteed contracts that both players were signed to, Sacramento is also paying guys who aren’t on the roster this season close to half a million dollars.

In their last run of games, which includes two matchups with the Mavericks, Sacramento will try to break free from their grasp. The Western Conference standings will be significantly impacted by those games, and the winner of the sixth seed may be determined by them.