Latest On Patrick McCaw

Three months after 2018’s free agent period opened, Warriors shooting guard Patrick McCaw remains unsigned, having let his qualifying offer deadline pass this week without accepting that QO. In an in-depth look at McCaw’s situation, Anthony Slater of The Athletic attempts to make sense of what the restricted free agent is thinking.

According to Slater, McCaw’s representatives have urged him to take one of two options — either accept his $1.71MM qualifying offer or sign a two-year offer from the Warriors that included a $2MM+ starting salary and a non-guaranteed second year. However, the 22-year-old didn’t sign his QO prior to Monday’s deadline and has thus far been unwilling to accept Golden State’s multiyear offer.

While McCaw’s stance is a surprising one, the former UNLV standout appears to be prioritizing opportunity as much as – or more than – his 2018/19 earnings. If he remains with the Warriors, McCaw would have “limited playmaking responsibility and no guaranteed nightly role,” writes Slater.

Sources suggest to Slater that both McCaw and his father Jeff believe that a “more expansive” role would be in the youngster’s best long-term interests as he looks to develop his game and increase his value in advance of his next free agency.

At this point in the fall, most teams around the NBA are fairly set in terms of their 14- or 15-man rosters for the coming season, so it’s not clear if any clubs are willing to make a play for McCaw as long as he remains restricted.

It will be interesting to see which side blinks first in the standoff between McCaw and the Warriors. If Golden State eventually decides that the contract dispute isn’t worth it, the club could pursue other free agent wings, with Jamal Crawford, Arron Afflalo, and Nick Young among those still on the market.

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