Brooklyn Nets: Under-the-radar free agent fits to consider

Patrick McCaw

Patrick McCaw is my favorite player in this year’s unrestricted free agent crop. After starting his career in Golden State he looked very promising early, but declined the Warriors’ two-year, $5.2 million offer as a restricted free agent a year ago and is now buried on the Raptors bench.

If Kawhi Leonard leaves Toronto, I expect the Raptors to try and re-sign McCaw. The question is how much is he worth? McCaw’s market value is extremely hard to gauge. His stats don’t reveal much as he has never averaged more than 16 minutes per game in his young career.

However, he does pass the eye test on his YouTube highlights as a versatile wingman. He’s just 23 years old and started his career playing for an NBA championship Warriors team, winning two titles with them.

His teammates were understanding of him wanting to leave, but they all wanted him to stay, realizing his star potential. Hopefully for Brooklyn Nets general manager Sean Marks, the rest of the NBA has forgotten about McCaw.

Marks should definitely keep an eye on him, especially if Leonard decides to stay in Toronto. Brooklyn might be able to sign McCaw if they can’t land Leonard in free agency.

By signing McCaw, Brooklyn could still end up with a potential All-Star for far less than a max-level contract. McCaw is an excellent defender, great in transition and can knock down the 3. He is lightning fast with a nice wingspan.

McCaw is already a proficient shooter but with a few tweaks in his mechanics he could become a top 3-point shooter in the league and a top 2 guard.

He would fit perfectly into the shooting guard position and if the Nets re-sign D’Angelo Russell, they would have a starting lineup featuring 3 potential all-stars in D-Lo,, McCaw and Caris LeVert.

If D-Lo continues to improve on defense, LeVert stays healthy and McCaw becomes a star, the Nets perimeter players would be a juggernaut on offense and defense.

Marks has a penchant for players who are looking to prove themselves.  McCaw epitomizes this trait as he left a championship team because he wanted more playing time to prove he was just as capable of greatness like his star-studded Warriors teammates.

Perhaps a Spencer Dinwiddie-type contract of roughly $10 million to $12 million per year over four years would be enough to bring McCaw to Brooklyn. It could prove to be a wiser gamble than spending close to $30 million a season on an older superstar.

They’d even have some cap space left over to address the frontcourt depth and extend or re-sign LeVert.