Quietly, one of the stranger stories of this NBA season (and offseason) was the decision of Patrick McCaw to play hardball with the Golden State Warriors as a restricted free agent.
Until December 28, McCaw was unsigned, with reports coming out of the Bay indicating many, including some Warriors players, felt he was overplaying his hand with his demands. A week ago, McCaw finally agreed to an offer sheet on a non-guaranteed deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers for two years, $6 million and the Warriors allowed him to go on his way to Cleveland.
On Sunday, barely a week after finally getting him on the roster, a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania indicated the Cavs would be waiving McCaw before Monday’s deadline for non-guaranteed deals to become guaranteed.
Sources @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: The Cleveland Cavaliers are planning to waive Pat McCaw. McCaw signed a non-guaranteed two-year offer sheet with Cleveland to leave Golden State.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 6, 2019
This appears to have been part of the plan, as the Cavs will, again, be looking to bring McCaw back along with other teams on a differently structured deal.
Cleveland, along with several playoff contenders, are expected to express interest in signing McCaw (unrestricted free agent) if he clears waivers. Guarantee deadline for McCaw (two years, $6M) — and other players on non-guaranteed deals around NBA — is Monday. https://t.co/QgZOUiPLVz
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 6, 2019
We’ll see whether McCaw sticks around in Cleveland or goes elsewhere, as well as what kind of deal he ends up on for the remainder of the season. However, what is clear is that this deal was created with the idea to get him out of restricted free agent purgatory and onto the market via waivers to give him more options.
