The Magic have withdrawn their two-way qualifying offer to guard Mac McClung, making him an unrestricted free agent, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter links).
According to Smith, Orlando pulled McClung’s QO to give him a chance to pursue other opportunities without being a RFA. The Magic have a crowded backcourt and McClung didn’t have an obvious path to playing time, Smith adds.
Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel confirms the news (via Twitter).
McClung spent all of last season on a two-way deal with Orlando but only made two brief NBA appearances. In 44 combined appearances with the NBA G League’s Osceola Magic, he averaged 23.0 points, 5.4 assists and 3.9 rebounds in 32.4 minutes per game, with a shooting line of .481/.344/.828.
The 26-year-old guard was named first-team All-NBAGL in 2024/25 after winning G League MVP in ’23/24. McClung is most well known for winning the past three NBA dunk contests.
Even though he has only played in six games, McClung has three years of NBA experience, having made previous stops with the Bulls, Lakers and Sixers. He is eligible for a two-way deal for one more season.
Ethan Thompson is currently the only player on a two-way deal with Orlando, so the team has a pair of two-way openings.
Bucks can get him…
Mac gotta be the weirdest NBA player ever. 76 total minutes on NBA courts in his life, but has 3 dunk competition titles…
Forgive me for asking as I haven’t really seen him much outside of all-star weekend. What is his weakness that keeps him from sticking at the end of a roster. Surely he’s better than some of those 10th or 11th players on roster out there.
Or is he just that great AAA player that can’t hit the curve?
He’s sub 6’ and white.
Lol 😆
He is an excellent leaper. His jump rating is easily 99. Unfortunately, all the other facets of his game are lacking. Not a good shooter, turnover prone, not good on defense, under sized
Your last point pretty much.
He needs the ball in his hands to be successful, but he’s 6-ft and not an elite shooter off the dribble. For an nba team to put the ball in his hands, he would need to be a bulldog defender like VanVleet, or a special shooter like Curry, or have elite accel/decel and footwork like Brunson.
The rest of the team has to believe the ball should be in his hands too.
He’s not good enough at offense to justify giving him the ball at the highest level. He isn’t versatile enough to fill another role.
He’s essentially a Quad-A player. The only thing separating him from the numerous PGs that venture overseas (or were born overseas) is he was given a national platform via a non-professional skill.
Sam Merrill stands as a great example of this type of player who worked his ass off to become a good POA defender. He used to be a combo guard and now he’s Luke Kennard but good at defense. But those instances are very rare, and Merrill was fortunate enough to get coached by JB Bickerstaff, the quality of coaching in the GLG is obviously nowhere close.
Silvers gonna make someone sign him just bc of dunk contests
I guess he threw a bone to SGA and got him the MVP so anything is possible.
The white Nate Robinson.
I’d like to see a team give him a real shot of extended playing time. See the growing pains and all. I get he probably didn’t show enough to earn that playing time over others in his career, but there’s a handful of god awful teams out there that can make room for it to happen. Hell, his dunking in game would sell some tickets at the very least.
Malachi Flynn dropped 50 and was out of the league in two months. The bar is that high for PGs. The NBA isn’t the only league in the world.
McClung wouldn’t dunk in-game for the same reason Nate Robinson didn’t. An NBA game isn’t the same as an empty gym.
NBA needs MacClung….he brings eyes to NBA all-star dunk contest without him it would lose a huge audience.
I would like to see a team take a chance because he seems to put up very good numbers in the G league
Naw, league doesn’t need him.
If no NBA team gives him a real deal he should go play overseas and earn real money in meaningful game. The league obviously does not respect what he accomplishes in the G League.
He’s a good guy and has some skills…
As a UFA he now has room to find a right fit…
He’s looking for a team to give him a Two-Way in his last year of eligibility. After that it’s overseas if nothing pans out.
Jared Butler is significantly more qualified/proven than McClung and will have difficulty finding an NBA job this offseason (since he’s no longer TW eligible).
The fact that THREE Hall of Fame PGs are free agents means nobody is giving away roster spots to fringe guys right now.