The Memphis Grizzlies need wing help and Patrick McCaw needs an NBA team. There’s no reason the Grizzlies shouldn’t at least consider signing McCaw.
Shams Charania tweeted out on late Sunday afternoon that the Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to release Patrick McCaw less than a week after signing him to a nonguaranteed two-year deal worth nearly six million.
After having what most perceived as two very promising years to begin his career in Golden State, McCaw decided not to sign his qualifying of 1 year, $1.57 million as well as turning down the Warriors offer of 2 years for just over 5 million.
Now finally speaking publically on the issue, McCaw makes it clear to reporters that there was no issue with Golden State as an organization, the players nor its staff.
He stated that his desire not to return to the team he won two NBA rings with during his first 2 seasons was for personal reasons that had nothing to do with his former club and he spoke highly in that regard.
In other words, he just wanted to go somewhere he can truly get his shine on and that wasn’t happening on the loaded Golden State roster that is today.
McCaw is a slight build 6’7 185lbs shooting guard from the University of Nevada. He was drafted 38th overall in the 2016 draft where Jerry West himself once stated that teams are gonna regret not drafting McCaw.
He’s a right-handed 23-year-old with very good ball handling for a shooting guard and shot-creating moves that certainly qualify for gold acrobatic and difficult shot badges on NBA 2k.
McCaw is a very crafty and skilled player who can easily finish at the rim and handle the ball with both hands. He also uses his length to his advantage by taking strides nearly impossible to defend when attacking the basket.
He is a very smooth and fluid athlete who puts the ball on the floor in traffic and can get to the rim without a lot of dribbling despite his very solid handle for a combo guard.
He is also a willing passer who immediately looks for the open man in fast break opportunities, and when the defense collapses on him.
McCaw has not yet shown much ability to pull up off the dribble and nail it from three-point land, but despite the stats, he is a very good catch and shoot three-point shooter.
He became one of Stephen Curry‘s favorite targets especially in the corner where he is near money in the bank.
McCaw is also surprisingly a pretty decent defender who uses his length to disrupt passes and makes it difficult for guys to go around him. One weakness though is his slight frame which makes him suspect for guards looking to create contact.
McCaw has the potential to become a devastating threat in the league if he can ever land in the right situation and capitalize on such. I believe he didn’t want to be in Cleveland judging his body language in his first media round wearing a Cavs jersey.
The situation in Cleveland is already very loaded at guard after they just selected Collin Sexton in the draft to pair with other young guards such as Jordan Clarkson, Rodney Hood and Cedi Osman who are all still on the roster looking for minutes at the same position.
In Memphis McCaw would be the only true shooting guard on the roster under 29 as Dillon Brooks is more so a scoring wing who is still developing as a guard.
McCaw also being a very capable passer and ball handler would make him a good fit alongside Mike Conley as he could serve as our guard who can run the point effectively while also being a scoring threat.
Conley hasn’t played with a talent like McCaw aside from maybe Tyreke Evans, who was nowhere near as willing to be the off-ball threat McCaw has the potential to be.
One can very well see a talent like McCaw possibly becoming our shooting guard of the future but the question is does he have the right approach after listening to his agent to turn down playing in Golden State this season.
In this interview he comes off very eccentric, to say the least, very mild-mannered but also hard to read as if there is a totally different world going on between his ears vs the world around him but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing either.
Memphis is a team in major need of good potential prospects at shooting guard specifically & he provides such if nothing else.
Also, we are known as a city rejected by mainstream media with many talented guys with questionable pasts. Hopefully, we take a flyer on this one and it works out like the cases of Zach Randolph, Tony Allen, James Johnson, and several others.