Patrick McCaw is an enigma. Writing this review is complicated, because everything regarding his NBA career is nothing short of hilarious. Even how he became a Toronto Raptor is hysterical. The dude won two back-to-back championships with the Golden State Warriors, and when free agency began and the Warriors presented him with a qualifying offer, he just…sat on it. Not physically, of course. Actually, maybe he did, but we’ll never know for certain. What we do know is that the time between receiving the offer and actually making a decision was long enough (four months to be exact), that the offer expired, and McCaw remained unsigned and restricted. Another offer, this time for $5.2 million dollars over two years, was presented and this time McCaw declined it. Nearly six months since free agency began, and three months into the 2018-2019 season, McCaw was offered $6 million for a non-guaranteed 2 year deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who he defeated two years in a row. McCaw accepted this offer, but was waived a week later, after appearing in only 3 games. Did the Cavaliers really need the 23 year-old shooting guard, or did they just need him to not be on the Warriors?
Those three games were enough for the Raptors’ front office to take a chance on McCaw though, as in less time than it takes for stores to ship out Toronto Raptors championship gear, Masai Ujiri and Bobby Webster signed McCaw for the remainder of the season. The low-risk signing would pay off for Toronto and for McCaw who would win his third NBA championship IN A ROW with his new squad.
Let’s review for a second: Golden State Warriors with McCaw – 2 NBA championships. Toronto Raptors with McCaw – 1 NBA championship. Cleveland Cavaliers with McCaw – 0 NBA championships.
Upon entering free agency this summer, McCaw made an almost immediate decision to stay with the Toronto Raptors for at least another two years, signing a 2 year/$8 million dollar contract on July 8th.
Presumably, McCaw was re-signed as shooting guard insurance after the loss of Danny Green. While his offensive statistics from last season do not hold a candle to Danny’s (821 points to McCaw’s 74, for example), Patrick McCaw did finish the season with a defensive rating of 106, compared to Danny’s 108. Sure, this is definitely a hand-picked stat, but my guy played 344 minutes so we’re going to take what we can get.
So let’s talk about stats for a second. Let’s compare, sample size be damned, Patrick McCaw to the (former) King of the North, Kawhi Leonard. Sure, Leonard may be a two-time NBA champion, but McCaw is a 3-time NBA champion. Leonard finished the season with 121 turnovers. McCaw? Only 17. McCaw also ended the year with an 87% free-throw percentage, compared to Leonard’s 86%. Who cares if one attempted 426 and the other shot 15? The Raptors never had to worry about McCaw getting into foul trouble either, as he had only had 38 personal fouls all season, nearly 50 fewer than Kawhi’s 87.
Was he the best player on the floor, like…ever? No, probably not. Is he going to lead the Raptors to another championship based on anything except a Larry O’Brien shaped horseshoe up his unmentionables? Doubt it. But did you, just for a second, talk yourself into Patrick McCaw becoming the new Kawhi Leonard? Because if so, I’ve done my job.
And if not, please enjoy the following video because it is better than any highlight compilation video on the web, and also better than any video that has ever existed.
