The Warriors have made their first effort in retaining promising young wing Patrick McCaw by tendering a qualifying offer for the restricted free agent.
One of the Warriors’ biggest offseason decisions after winning back-to-back championships will regard Patrick McCaw‘s future in Golden State.
After two NBA seasons, McCaw is set to become a restricted free agent now that the Warriors have given him a qualifying offer according to ESPN’s Chris Haynes.
This means that Golden State would be able to match any offer that another team would give McCaw in restricted free agency.
If he doesn’t get an offer from any of the other 29 teams, McCaw would sign his qualifying offer which would keep him under contract for next season at about $1.75 million.
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If McCaw plays out that final year of his contract on the qualifying offer, he would become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.
I think McCaw will draw some interest for teams wanting to take a chance on a young wing with three and D potential.
The 22-year-old guard/forward is a career 29.6% three point shooter, but he still has plenty of time to improve his outside shot before he enters the prime of his career. He has also shown some decent playmaking ability for someone in his limited offensive role with 3 assists per 36 minutes last season.
Most of McCaw’s current skills come on the defensive end of the floor. The highlight of his career was getting some important minutes in the 2017 Finals where he showed all of his defensive upside.
McCaw had a rough second year before suffering a pretty serious back injury near the end of the regular season, which could scare some teams from making a substantial offer in restricted free agency.
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All the Warriors can do now is wait and see what McCaw’s value will be on the open market when teams can begin making offers to restricted free agents on July 1st.
If I had to put a number on it, I’m guessing there is a 51% chance McCaw comes back to Golden State next season.