Brooklyn Nets 2018-19 Primer: Jordan McLaughlin has to prove himself

Jordan McLaughlin had a great four-year run at USC, but went undrafted. After signing a non-guaranteed contract with the Brooklyn Nets, McLaughlin will have to prove himself.

On Aug. 20, the Brooklyn Nets announced they had signed Jordan McLaughlin to an non-guaranteed minimum contract.

The deal includes an Exhibit 10 attachment, which can be added to a minimum contract in order for it to be converted into a two-way deal.

Although McLaughlin has the Exhibit 10, if waived in training camp, the Brooklyn Nets’ G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, would gain his G League rights.

McLaughlin was one of the few standout players on the 2018 Brooklyn Nets Summer League team in July. He was one of Brooklyn’s top backcourt options and played well. He averaged 19.6 minutes, 7.0 points, 4.8 assists, and 1.8 rebounds during the 2018 Summer League.

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He is a scoring point guard who has an all around style of play. McLaughlin can shoot from both behind the arc and mid-range, but not at a high level. He went 34.2 percent from the field and only 22.2 percent from behind the arc in Las Vegas.

Besides his scoring, McLaughlin’s passing was good. He reads the defense well and can make tight passes at a high level. He often likes to push the ball inside the 3-point line and looks for the open shooters in the corner.

He did a great job of attracting the defense before making a sharp pass to the open man.

One of his most noticeable passes was when McLaughlin fired a long pass to the running Kamari Murphy for quick transition points on the other end.

Jarrett Allen with the block, Jordan McLaughlin with the fullcourt pass, Kamari Murphy with the layup on the other end!#NBASummer pic.twitter.com/84D1OOTmKU
— NBA (@NBA) July 10, 2018

On the defensive end, McLaughlin played tight defense, but had trouble on switches. At 6-foot-1, McLaughlin is slightly smaller than the average point guard, which gave him some trouble defending drives and stopping attackers in their tracks.

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Despite his lack of height, McLaughlin is a steal threat. He is a slick defender who focuses on poking the ball out of players hands. He averaged 0.8 steals per game in the Summer League.

Now that he is signed to a non-guaranteed deal with the Brooklyn Nets, he will have a lot of work to do to prove himself.

McLaughlin is not likely to see any playing time with the Brooklyn Nets in 2018-19 due to the point guard rotation and competition. The Nets have four players who are likely to see a good amount of minutes at the point.

D’Angelo Russell (starter)
Spencer Dinwiddie (expected primary backup)
Shabazz Napier (expected third string)
Caris LeVert (expected to see some minutes at point guard)

With a loaded rotation at the point, McLaughlin will have to prove himself in the G League with the Long Island Nets.

Despite the Nets current point guard rotation, McLaughlin is not ready to bring his game to the NBA level quite yet. He needs to work on his shooting, decisions with the ball, and his defense.

McLaughlin was known as one of the best guards in the Pac-12 while at USC. While at USC, McLauglin had two good games against fellow NBA rookies Aaron Holiday and Trae Young, who were both first-round picks.

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In December, McLaughlin was matched up against Young. Young had the better game, scoring 29 points with nine assists while McLaughlin went on to score 20 points and record nine assists. When he guarded Young, McLaughlin restricted the Oklahoma guard when behind the arc.

Young, who is known to be a 3-point shooting guard, can really light up a scoreboard from behind the arc.

At the end of the game, McLaughlin did a good job defending Young, but had trouble defending his passes. Young made it look too easy when he made inside passes and when driving past McLaughlin.

In February, McLaughlin had a really hard time defending Aaron Holiday. Holiday dominated over McLaughlin on both ends of the floor.

On the offensive end, Holiday shot very well from behind the arc and from mid-range. He constantly moved around giving McLaughlin a chase and a hard time to track down. Holiday was 7-for-10 on the night and an outstanding 5-for-7 from behind the arc.

It was not just Holiday’s offensive game which game McLaughlin trouble, but on the other end as well. He struggled to get past Holiday and move the ball. Holiday did a great job locking down McLaughlin and forcing him to make bad decisions with the ball.

In the end, McLaughlin scored only five points shooting a rough 2-for-8 from the field while Holiday went on to score 23 points and record nine assists.

Now, McLaughlin has matched up against now-NBA guards. His play is likely to transfer over to the G League.

When playing for the Long Island Nets, McLaughlin will have to play consistently at a high level in order to be called up to the Brooklyn Nets.

As said before, it is unlikely McLaughlin will see any time with the Brooklyn Nets next season.

But if he has a great season with the Long Island Nets in 2018-19, we can possibly see him in a Nets uniform in 2019-20, if Brooklyn decides to convert him to a two-way deal and retains him next summer.