The Dallas Mavericks have signed mercurial center JaVale McGee to a two-year, veteran's minimum contract last week as part of the team's continuing backup plan after DeAndre Jordan's big turnaround during the free agency period.

Since Jordan changed his mind about joining the Mavericks and staying with the Los Angeles Clippers early in the summer, Dallas had acquired Zaza Pachulia via a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks and had also signed free agent center Samuel Dalembert. They have also added Tunisian big man Salah Mejri as a backup.

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Now with McGee, the Mavericks possess a four-center rotation that is experienced and has the potential to be formidable if given the time.

ESPN reported that Dallas performed a one-month background investigation regarding McGee's health before the team decided to hire him. The former Washington Wizard and Denver Nugget recently played for only six games with the Philadelphia 76ers last season and had been injury-plagued for the past two years.

The last time the 27-year-old Michigan native played a full season was in 2012-2013 with the Nuggets, when he averaged 9.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in 18.1 minutes per game as a bench player.

McGee's last productive season was in 2011-2012 when he was a starter with the Wizards. At his best, he averaged 11.9 points and 8.8 rebounds in 27.4 minutes a night. He was traded in the middle of the season to Denver and since then his production had been on a decline.

The Washington Post indicated that this Dallas stint could be the final chance of McGee to resurrect his so far up-and-down career.

Playing alongside veteran centers Pachulia and Dalembert would ease the pressure to perform and provide double-double numbers, but the long-armed seven-footer is expected to contribute up to par for him to stay long in the Mavs roster.

Settling for the minimum deal is not bad at all for the unpredictable McGee. He needs the Mavericks, and they also need him and so the signing made a lot of sense indeed, as per the NBA website's Hang Time Blog.

Jordan was not the only center Dallas lost during free agency as their starting slot man Tyson Chandler chose to jump ship to the Phoenix Suns to the tune of a four-year, $52 million deal.

TagsNBA 2015, NBA news, NBA News 2015, NBA rumors, NBA Rumors 2015, JaVale McGee