The Magic have removed three players from their roster ahead of the regular season, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who reports (via Twitter) that the club has waived guards Mac McClung and Brandon Williams, as well as swingman Daeqwon Plowden.
McClung, Williams, and Plowden were all on Exhibit 10 contracts. The hope is that all three players will join the Osceola Magic, Orlando’s G League affiliate, according to Beede. Osceola has made trades this offseason to acquire the returning rights for each of them.
McClung has only appeared in four NBA games, but starred at All-Star Weekend last season, winning the 2023 Slam Dunk Contest, and had a big year in the G League. The 24-year-old appeared in 31 NBAGL regular season games for the Delaware Blue Coats – Philadelphia’s affiliate – and averaged 19.8 points, 4.9 assists, and 2.7 rebounds in just 26.8 minutes per game. He posted an impressive .550/.474/.823 shooting line during the G League regular season and helped lead the Blue Coats to a title.
Williams has 24 games of NBA experience under his belt, but spent last season with the College Park Skyhawks, Atlanta’s NBAGL team. Plowden spent his first professional season in 2022/23 playing for New Orleans’ G League affiliate, the Birmingham Squadron.
The Magic also formally confirmed in a press release that they’ve converted Trevelin Queen to a two-way contract, as previously reported. Their roster is now set for the regular season, with 15 players on standard deals and three on two-way pacts.
It’s sad that no NBA team will give McClung a chance.
Best of luck to him, may it finally happen this season!
Are we going to go through this every year? What do you mean no team will give McClung a chance?
He’s had a preseason tryout that lasted until the final minute with the Orlando Magic this year. You say they’re not giving him a chance to earn a position on the team for the coming season? That’s ridiculous.
He tried out and he didn’t make the cut. He’s not good enough. He’s lacking NBA skills. It’s difficult to see what he’s lacking from a casual fan’s perspective because he can jump, he can score, he can pass, he’s fast, he goes to the hole, and he can shoot it from outside.
What you aren’t seeing is a player who’s a backup. If he was a starter, his skill set would fit but he’s not good to be a starter in the NBA.
So what he is ultimately is a backup. You don’t want your backup point guard to be a high flying circus act out there trying to get 20 points every night. He’s not good enough for that role.
What you want from your backup point guard is to facilitate the offense for the other four Reserves. Put THEM in positions to succeed, not yourself. That has to be the mindset but Mac McClung does not have that.
He is and always will be a G League all star. Outstanding skill set and he’s good enough to be a starter in the G League. But in the NBA he’s a small 6-3, not strong enough or good enough to start, and doesn’t have the mindset necessary that coaches want out of reserve. End of story.
He’s had three or four camp invites and been given plenty of chances. Didn’t he play in the G League all year the last couple of years so every single team has scouts watching these guys and video of these guys. Don’t get me started lol.
I’m not hating on the guy, in fact I think he’s an incredible story !! Persistence, great attitude, very open to work hard Etc. But it’s when fans insist that he belongs in the NBA and can’t see that his game is not good enough for the NBA.
Please. NBA teams are required to have 14 players on their active rosters, and only 5 are starters. I never said he was good enough to start, and using that as equivalent to his being “not good enough for the NBA” is nonsense.
Your dissing his height is laughable, given the Magic’s 2 starting PGs in recent seasons are 6’2 and 6’3″. He was a good enough leader to lead the G league team to the ‘chip, and the coach of the perennial bottom feeding Magic cutting him certainly doesn’t mean he actually had a legit chance to beat out Fultz ($17 mil) and Anthony ($5.5 mil) as a backup PG with all the other guards they have on the roster.
And the previous tryout (with the 76ers desperately trying to make the finals) and a bunch of guards on contract could arguably have proven he could be a legit NBA backup, by outplaying the 2 backup PGs he was on the court against at the end of their season.
A lot of NOT casual GSW fans thought Kerr should have given him a shot. He’s only 24 so we will see if any teams might want a proven winner one level down as an NBA backup combo guard.
What I’m saying is his game is suited to the requirements that an NBA team has for a starting guard. But he’s not good enough to start. He has to change his mindset and has to change his game to become an NBA RESERVE and be effective in that role. He’s not shown he can do that.
He’ll score 15 points in 10 minutes. That’s not what you want out of your reserve point guard. Maybe a reserve shooting guard but when I say he’s a “small 6’3” I mean that he’s 6’1. He just doesn’t fit the reserve point guard role.
So he’s not a starter because he’s not good enough, and he’s not a reserve because he doesn’t do what they want. That’s the Dilemma. That’s essentially what I’m trying to convey.
And why would he sign with the Orlando Magic for a tryout if the writing is on the wall that he’s not going to beat out guys with those salaries?
It’s because there were NO OTHER OPPORTUNITIES with better situations where the writing wasn’t on the wall that he had no chance.
His official NBA measured height is 6’2″.
You are so sure that you somehow know what NBA teams want in a backup PG/combo guard and even funnier, it can’t possibly be his G league championshipn history of 4.9 ast and 1.9 TOs/gm while also producing the 19.8 ppg scoring on an (absurd for a guard) 72% TS.
Hate away!
Okay you mentioned “combo guard.” That’s the type of player he is but without the mindset to create for others. And being 6’1 that doesn’t work out well when you have to defend the other team’s shooting guard. (Combo guard means he plays the 1 and the 2, whatever is needed.)
There’s not many 6-1 combo guards coming off the bench in the NBA. You’ll notice Collin Sexton is STARTING for the Jazz because 6-1 combo guards coming off the bench is not conducive to a successful second unit. There’s probably others but I’d have to look them up. Sexton is a perfect example.
His official NBA measured height is 6’2″.
Your claim that he lacks the mindset to create for others is belied by his last NBA game with the 76ers.
His game high 9 ast with 1 TO sure indicates he has the mindset AND ABILITY to create for others.
He also put up 20 pts and (2nd only to Paul Reed’s 10) 9 rebs to finish with a game high +/- of +29.
Sexton only started under a third of his games on the Jazz (15 of 48) and posted a paltry 2.9 apg to 1.8 TOs, so were his backup guard stats indicative of a non-NBA level mindset, according to you?
Okay fair enough. We have difference of opinion and that’s great. That’s what these message boards are for. Talk to you again next preseason about this.
The NBA needs more teams,so many good players without a team.
Expansion is well overdue…
I like Brandon Williams. To bad
Slam dunk champ ( not scardy James) cannot find a NBA home. Sad. Why was he able to compete in it anyway silver