The Cleveland Cavaliers have acquired forward/center Isaiah Hartenstein and two second round draft picks in a trade with the Denver Nuggets for center JaVale McGee, Cavaliers General Manager Koby Altman announced from Cleveland Clinic Courts.
The draft picks acquired by the Cavs are the Nuggets’ 2023 second round pick (31-46 protected) and the Nuggets’ 2027 second round pick.
McGee, 7-0, 270, has appeared in 33 games for the Cavaliers this season, averaging 8.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.21 blocks while shooting 52.1% from the field in 15.2 minutes per game. The 13-year NBA veteran returns to Denver after spending four seasons as a Nugget from 2011 to 2015. McGee was drafted with the 18th overall pick by Washington in the 2008 NBA Draft and appeared in a total of 734 career games (318 starts) owning averages of 7.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.50 blocks on 57.2% shooting from the field.
The Flint, Michigan native is coming off a 2019-20 campaign with the Los Angeles Lakers that saw him win his third Championship in four seasons. He started 11 games for the Lakers in the NBA Bubble in Orlando during their Championship run and he played an integral role for the Warriors during their back-to-back Championship seasons in 2017 and 2018. McGee has appeared in a total of 58 playoff games (23 starts).
Hartenstein (7-0, 249) has appeared in 30 games for the Nuggets this season, averaging 3.5 points on .513 shooting and 2.8 rebounds in 9.1 minutes. He has played in 81 games in his three-year NBA career for Denver and Houston, compiling averages of 3.3 points on .559 shooting and 2.7 rebounds in 9.4 minutes. Hartenstein also played in parts of three seasons in the NBA G-League (2017-20) with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers where, in 2019, he was named All G-League First Team and G-League Finals MVP while leading his team to the G-League Championship. The 22-year-old Eugene, Oregon native was originally drafted by Houston with the 43rd overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
