For a month or more now, the Golden State Warriors have had an offer on the table for Patrick McCaw, in the two-year, $5 million range (although the second year is not fully guaranteed). That’s a little bit more than his $1.7 million qualifying on the table from the team.
Reports are McCaw is turning all of it down.
Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Restricted free agent Pat McCaw plans to decline his one-year, $1.7M qualifying offer with the Warriors, barring unforeseen change.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 2, 2018
It would allow today's deadline to expire and keep him RFA.
It’s actually a two-year deal paying about $5 million and the second year is not guaranteed, a source said. https://t.co/YkrY0U6KM9
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) October 2, 2018
Why turn down the money? My best guess: he believes if he can get out of Golden State and off one of the most stacked rosters in NBA history, he can get some minutes somewhere else and prove his value. He wants to get on the court and play more. While I appreciate that logic, the question is would he get that many minutes somewhere else?
McCaw will be a restricted free agent next summer when there will be a lot of money floating around — about 20 teams may have space for at least one max contract — but also about 200 players on the market as well (that’s not a typo, about half the league will be free agents). McCaw needs to play well in Golden State when he gets the chance this season to show teams he deserves a little of that cash, because right now he’s way down the pecking order.
