Patrick McCaw attempts to explain his puzzling Warriors’ exit
Patrick McCaw was asked whether he had any regrets from how he handled free agency last summer.
TORONTO – The Warriors continuously remain befuddled over how he handled last summer’s free agency. Yet, Patrick McCaw initially spoke with conviction on why he would leave a team where he won two NBA championships, learned under All-Star talent and had a role that could ensure more playing time and a potentially more lucrative contract.
“I took on a huge challenge for myself because I felt it was right for me,” McCaw said on Wednesday. “So a lot of kids at 21, 22 years old, doing what I did probably never would have took that chance. I kind of just bet on myself and let the chips fall where they may.”
McCaw sure bet on himself. Those chips did not fall on the places he had wanted, though.
McCaw declined the Warriors’ $1.7 million qualifying offer in hopes to find a new lucrative offer as a restricted free agent. He did not find any. Shortly after training camp opened, McCaw turned down the Warriors’ two-year, $5.2 million deal partly because he wanted a fully guaranteed contract so he could become an unrestricted free agent the following summer. Instead, McCaw missed almost the first half of the season. The Cleveland Cavaliers offered McCaw a two-year, $6 million deal in January, which would give the Warriors the right to match the deal. The Warriors declined. After the Cavaliers waived McCaw a week later, he eventually signed with the Toronto Raptors.
Looking back through those pivot points, would McCaw have done anything differently? Or does he remain convinced he made the right decision?
“The decision I decided to make I made them for myself,” McCaw said. “From the outside looking in, you can say it was right or wrong. But for me, I’m here. I’m in a great position.”
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McCaw has some understandable perspective. After winning two NBA titles with the Warriors as a young, developing reserve, the 23-year-old McCaw will appear in his third consecutive NBA Finals when the Warriors play Toronto in Game 1 on Thursday. After suffering a spinal contusion that sidelined him for over a month leading into midway of the Western Conference Finals, McCaw defied the odds for something far more important than just rectifying an inconsistent second season.
“It could have been career-ending, and I probably could have never walked again,” McCaw said. “That injury just kind of really put everything in perspective. I think people really don’t know the severity of the injury and how my life could be totally different. I probably wouldn’t be here talking to you right now.”
Now that McCaw is talking, there are still some questions to answer.
McCaw had sought better financial security after the Warriors bought his rights from Milwaukee to select No. 38 on the 2017 NBA Draft. And why not? All players do, and the Warriors envisioned he could ease the transition for whenever veteran Andre Iguodala retires. Yet, McCaw ignored pleadings from his agent, Bill Duffy, to accept the Warriors’ offers after the free-agency market remained dry. Instead, McCaw still signed a deal with Cleveland that was only $800,000 more than the Warriors’ second offer, while missing the first half of the season. After Cleveland waived him, McCaw signed a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum worth $786,000.
“It’s a tough thing to do in this league when all you see is guys getting paid and getting money. That’s not my goal at all,” McCaw said. “When it was said last year, ‘Pat wants more money and things like that,’ it was blown out of proportion. The whole story was for me I was just a kid who wanted more for himself and wanted to get an opportunity.”
McCaw hoped for a bigger opportunity than what the Warriors had available. After all, their team rightfully centers on Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Dramyond Green and Klay Thompson. Yet, the Warriors carve out bigger roles for their younger bench in hopes to accelerate their development. Has McCaw received more opportunities in Toronto that he could’ve receive in Golden State?
“No, I feel like it’s about the same,” McCaw said. “About the same.”
In fact, it is even worse. McCaw averaged 4.0 points on 42.1 points per game in 16 minutes through two seasons with the Warriors. With the Raptors, McCaw has averaged 2.7 points on 44.4 percent shooting in 13.2 minutes per contest. What did McCaw want with his new role?
“Just a better opportunity,” McCaw said. “You can say playing time. But I think for me, it was just wanting to be somewhere where people would see me more.”
Plenty saw McCaw on the Warriors. So is there something he did not like? Did he not think he would thrive under the Warriors’ championship culture? Did he actually take exception toward the Warriors signing Nick Young in the 2017 offseason to spark competition for playing time? Did McCaw’s affection for the Warriors’ support following his injury suddenly dissipate?
“It wasn’t not getting along with teammates or not liking things from my coaches. There was no negative things toward the Warriors,” McCaw said. “It was all just a personal standpoint and what I wanted for myself. I had to go through this to learn and grow.”
And yet what McCaw actually learned is not entirely clear.
“I was a 21-year-old kid going into the summer and just trying to figure out what I wanted,” McCaw said. “It was all from a personal standpoint. It’s tough when you’re that young and you see things only your way. I kind of wasn’t too aware of how everything worked. But I knew what I wanted for myself, and I just stuck with that.”
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