Patrick McCaw Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Raptors Notes: Lowry, Ibaka, Ujiri

November 22nd, 2019 at 12:03pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Kyle Lowry is targeting December 1 for his return to the lineup, Michael Grange of Rogers Sportsnet relays (Twitter link). Lowry hasn’t played for the Raptors since early November because of a thumb injury.

Here’s more from Toronto:

There was hope that Serge Ibaka would make his return on Saturday, Grange notes, but the big man will not return from his right ankle injury this weekend. Patrick McCaw, who is recovering from a knee injury, is ahead of schedule but there is still no definite timetable for his return.
Trevor Cole of Toronto Life delivers an in-depth profile of Raptors GM Masai Ujiri, detailing the executive’s routines and his path to the top of the organization in Toronto. Ujiri began his career in international scouting.
In the same piece, Raptors guard Fred VanVleet provided some insight into what makes Ujiri great. “He values the little things about a person more than just their basketball talent,” said VanVleet.

Patrick McCaw Undergoes Knee Surgery, Out At Least Four Weeks

November 6th, 2019 at 1:10pm CST by Luke Adams

1:10pm: McCaw underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday and had a “benign mass” on the back of his left knee removed, the Raptors announced today in a press release. According to the club, he’ll be re-evaluated in four weeks and the team will provide an update at that time.

10:13am: Raptors guard Patrick McCaw will undergo surgery on his troublesome left knee, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). Although a specific recovery timetable hasn’t been announced, Charania hears from league sources that McCaw is expected to be sidelined for “several weeks.”

That nagging left knee injury had limited McCaw to just two games so far this season. Raptors head coach Nick Nurse told reporters on Monday that the 24-year-old had been ruled out indefinitely as he visited a specialist to determine the source of the issue. I expect we’ll get an official update from the team soon with more details on the procedure McCaw is undergoing.

The Raptors’ backcourt is already somewhat thin, with Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet playing heavy minutes in the early going for the defending champions. With McCaw out for the foreseeable future, Terence Davis, Matt Thomas, Stanley Johnson, and Malcolm Miller are among the candidates to receive longer looks from Toronto, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.

Raptors’ McCaw Out Indefinitely With Knee Issue

November 4th, 2019 at 11:55am CST by Luke Adams

Patrick McCaw has missed four of the Raptors‘ six games so far this season due to a nagging left knee issue, and is scheduled to see a specialist today to attempt to determine the source of that issue, as Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets. Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters that for now McCaw has been ruled out indefinitely.

McCaw, 24, joined the Raptors as a free agent halfway through the 2018/19 season and finished the season with the club, winning his third consecutive NBA championship after two years with the Warriors. Although his regular-season numbers in Toronto (2.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 13.2 MPG) certainly didn’t jump off the page, the former second-round pick played some postseason minutes during the team’s championship run and then re-signed on a two-year, $8MM deal.

In the two games he has played so far this year, McCaw averaged 20.0 minutes per contest, showing that he’ll be one of the first players off the bench for the Raptors when he’s healthy. However, it sounds like he may be sidelined for the foreseeable future, depending on how his knee injury is diagnosed.

While we wait for a more concrete timeline on McCaw’s recovery, the Raptors likely plan to lean a little more heavily on reserves like Matt Thomas and Terence Davis, with Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson potentially getting a shot as well.

Eastern Notes: Oladipo, McCaw, Richardson, Prince

October 18th, 2019 at 9:03pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Victor Oladipo will begin participating in some full-contact 5-on-5 half-court scrimmages in the coming days but he still has more hurdles to clear before he’ll return to action, Tyler Kraft and Nathan Brown of the Indianapolis Star report. The Pacers have yet to announce a target date for the star guard, who suffered a ruptured quad tendon last season.

“He’s been doing some things 1-on-1,” Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said. “But this is a good sign. They’re going slowly to try to work him into being able to go every day, but it’s good news to know he’ll be able to participate in that first part of practice.”

We have more Eastern Conference news:

Raptors swingman Patrick McCaw had an MRI on his left knee which revealed no structural damage, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. McCaw suffered the injury during a preseason game last weekend. The Raptors re-signed McCaw to a two-year deal in July.
The Sixers were interested in acquiring Josh Richardson last season from the Heat before they traded for Jimmy Butler, Michael Lee of The Athletic reports. The Sixers were open to being a third party when the Heat were in trade talks with the Timberwolves for Butler with Philadelphia targeting Richardson. When those talks collapsed, the Sixers eventually worked out a trade for Butler. Those two swingmen were the main components of the sign-and-trade this summer when Butler agreed to join Miami.
Forward Taurean Prince is hopeful that he can reached an extension agreement with the Nets prior to Monday’s deadline, as he told Brian Lewis of the New York Post. He’ll be a restricted free agent next summer if he doesn’t sign an extension. “I want to be here as long as I can. And whatever happens, happens, but I’m just happy to play good basketball,” Prince said. “One hundred percent, yeah. For sure. This is the best organization I’ve been in.”

Raptors Notes: Lowry, Brissett, Miller, McCaw

October 8th, 2019 at 11:24am CST by Luke Adams

A one-year contract extension for Kyle Lowry was always the outcome that made the most sense for the Raptors, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic, who points out that Lowry’s new deal leaves the team’s cap sheet relatively clean for the 2021 offseason, which is expected to feature a star-studded class of free agents.

Toronto’s new agreement with Lowry also signals that – as expected – the club has no immediate plans to tear down its core and launch a full-fledged rebuild following Kawhi Leonard‘s departure. As Murphy writes, exhibiting the ability to remain competitive without a superstar player has worked out well for teams like the Nets and Clippers in recent years — both those franchises made huge free agent splashes this summer in part because they’d built solid cores for their newly-signed stars to complement.

With Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka, and Fred VanVleet among the Raptors veterans still unsigned beyond 2019/20, Lowry’s short-term extension is just one part of the puzzle for the franchise. Still, it provides a strong hint that president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri wants to maintain a winning culture as Toronto begins a new era.

Here’s more on the Raptors:

Danny Leroux of The Athletic and Dan Devine of The Ringer both make the case that Lowry’s one-year extension is a win-win for both the team and the veteran point guard.
Oshae Brissett and Malcolm Miller were among the players who looked good in the Raptors’ preseason win over Houston in Tokyo this morning, writes Blake Murphy of The Athletic. Murphy believes Brissett is a favorite to claim one of Toronto’s open two-way contract slots. Miller, who isn’t eligible for a two-way deal, will have a trickier path to a spot on the regular season roster, unless the Raptors decide they’re comfortable with Patrick McCaw and Terence Davis as third point guards and opt not to hang onto Cameron Payne or Isaiah Taylor.
Over the weekend, Doug Smith of The Toronto Star suggested that McCaw – who signed a two-year, $8MM contract with the Raptors this summer – is among those in the running for a spot in the starting lineup. However, Murphy notes that the ex-Warrior still didn’t look aggressive or especially comfortable on the offensive end in today’s game, playing 21 minutes without taking a single field goal attempt.

Atlantic Notes: Horford, Lowry, Raptors, Portis, Knicks

July 22nd, 2019 at 9:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers power forward Al Horford shot down an ESPN report that his new team was guilty of tampering prior to free agency. He addressed the issue on the Dan Patrick Show (hat tip to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg). Horford declined his team option with the Celtics and signed a four-year, $109MM contract with Philadelphia. “It’s ridiculous. … (Celtics GM) Danny [Ainge] was really good to me. I know he’s definitely frustrated that things didn’t work out with us,” Horford said.

We have more from around the Atlantic Division:

Heading into unrestricted free agency next summer, Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has hired Priority Sports — headed by longtime agent Mark Bartelstein — to represent him, according to a Priority Sports tweet. Lowry signed a three-year deal worth up to $100MM in 2017. His previous reps were Gerard Darnes Soms, Andrew Miller and Juan Aisa, according to Spotrac.
The Raptors used their $3.623MM bi-annual exception to sign forward Stanley Johnson, according to Blake Murphy of The Athletic. The $9.26MM mid-level was split up among Patrick McCaw, Matt Thomas, second-round pick Dewan Hernandez and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who received $2.5MM rather than the veteran’s minimum. McCaw signed a two-year, $8MM deal while Thomas and Hernandez received partially-guaranteed three-year contracts.
Power forward Bobby Portis believes the players the Knicks brought in are a hungry group ready to overachieve, as he told Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype. Portis joined the team on a two-year, $31MM deal, though only the first year is guaranteed. “I love being underrated, man. I’m an underdog,” he said. “I say that every day. We’re the team that’s being counted out right now. People are looking past us. They’re talking about stars going to new teams and this and that, and that’s okay. Everybody on this team has a huge chip on their shoulder.”
After striking out on the big free agents this summer, the Knicks will have to exercise patience and come up with a better plan to lure top talent, Steve Popper of Newsday opines.

Contract Details: Porter, Rozier, Spurs, Kings, Raptors

July 9th, 2019 at 8:52am CST by Luke Adams

For the first time in several years, a first-round pick has accepted below the standard maximum of 120% of his rookie scale amount, tweets Jeff Siegel of Early Bird Rights. According to Siegel, No. 30 overall pick Kevin Porter Jr. will only earn 80% of his rookie scale amount during his first season and will continue to get less than 120% of the rookie scale amount in years two through four.

The rookie scale amount this year for the No. 30 pick is $1,613,700, so Porter’s expected salary for his rookie season would have been $1,936,440. Instead, he’ll get just $1,290,960, according to Siegel.

While this is just my speculation, it seems likely that the Cavaliers would have checked in with Porter and his agent before drafting him to see if he’d be okay with that reduced first-year salary, given how rare it is. Porter, the final pick in the first round, will still earn significantly more than the rookie minimum of $898K that many early second-rounder selections will receive, while the Cavs, who are up against the luxury-tax line, will put themselves in better position to avoid potential repeater penalties.

Here are more contract details from around the NBA, all courtesy of Siegel unless otherwise indicated:

Terry Rozier‘s three-year, $56.7MM contract with the Hornets has a declining structure (Twitter link). It starts at $19.9MM in 2019/20 before eventually dipping to $17.9MM by 2021/22.
The base value of Rudy Gay‘s two-year deal with the Spurs is $28MM, with $2MM in annual bonuses to bring the potential total value up to $32MM (Twitter link). DeMarre Carroll‘s deal, meanwhile, only has a partial guarantee of $1.35MM in the third year (Twitter link). The Spurs tacked on that third season when they pivoted to acquiring Carroll via sign-and-trade rather than signing him outright.
Trevor Ariza‘s two-year, $25MM contract with the Kings only has a $1.8MM partial guarantee in year two (Twitter link). Meanwhile, Sacramento’s deal with Dewayne Dedmon has a base value of $40MM over three years, with $300K in annual incentives (Twitter link).
Blake Murphy of The Athletic provides details on a pair of Raptors contracts, tweeting that Patrick McCaw‘s new two-year deal is worth $8MM, while Matt Thomas‘ three-year, minimum-salary contract is non-guaranteed in year three. Both of those deals will come out of Toronto’s mid-level exception — Stanley Johnson‘s might too, though if the team has plans in mind for the rest of the $4.36MM on its MLE, Johnson could be signed using the bi-annual exception instead, notes Murphy.

Raptors Re-Sign Patrick McCaw

July 8th, 2019 at 7:03pm CST by Luke Adams

7:03pm: The signing is official, according to a team press release.

2:29pm: The Raptors have agreed to a new deal with restricted free agent guard Patrick McCaw, reports Blake Murphy of The Athletic (via Twitter). A source tells Murphy that it will be a two-year contract.

Restricted free agency moved much quicker for McCaw this time around than it did last year, when he was a Warriors RFA and remained unsigned until December 28. The 23-year-old signed an offer sheet with the Cavaliers, but they waived him about a week later – before that deal became fully guaranteed – and he subsequently caught on with the Raptors.

In 26 regular season games for Toronto, McCaw averaged 2.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 13.2 minutes per contest. He played limited minutes in 11 postseason games for the Raptors, winning his third title in his third NBA season.

Their new deal with McCaw continues an offseason trend for the Raptors, who seem to be prioritizing wing defense after losing Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. McCaw, Stanley Johnson, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson aren’t reliable outside shooters, but they can all guard perimeter players effectively. Matt Thomas is the lone shooter the Raptors have agreed to sign this summer.

Raptors Issue QOs To Patrick McCaw, Nando De Colo

June 24th, 2019 at 1:58pm CST by Luke Adams

The Raptors have tendered qualifying offers to guards Patrick McCaw and Nando De Colo, making them restricted free agents, tweets Keith Smith of RealGM.com. RealGM’s log of official transactions confirms that Toronto issued those QOs on Friday.

As we explain in our glossary entry on the subject, qualifying offers are essentially one-year contract offers worth a set amount that give a team the right of first refusal on a free agent. If McCaw or De Colo signs an offer sheet with another team, Toronto will now have the opportunity to match that offer.

McCaw, who had a lengthy restricted free agency standoff with the Warriors last summer, briefly joined the Cavaliers before eventually ending up with the Raptors. The 23-year-old played a modest role in Toronto, averaging 2.7 PPG and 1.7 RPG in 26 games (13.2 MPG). McCaw, who won his third consecutive NBA title in 2019, has a QO worth about $1.88MM.

As for De Colo, he hasn’t actually played in the NBA since 2014, but the Raptors have held his rights since then by issuing him a qualifying offer every year while he played overseas. The veteran guard recently left CSKA Moscow and is looking to return to the NBA, so it will be interesting to see whether Toronto makes it a priority to retain him. His QO is worth about $1.83MM.

In other Raptors news, the team agreed to a deal with undrafted rookie Sagaba Konate out of West Virginia, a league source tells Michael Scotto of The Athletic (Twitter link). Scotto’s report doesn’t include additional details, but Blake Murphy of The Athletic suggests (via Twitter) that Kobate will sign an Exhibit 10 contract, which would give him a spot on Toronto’s 20-man offseason roster.

A 6’8″ forward, Konate was limited to just eight games in 2018/19 due to a lingering knee injury, but opted to go pro as an early entrant anyway. In his last full college season in ’17/18, he averaged 10.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, and 3.2 BPG in 36 games as a sophomore.

Patrick McCaw Explains Why He Left Warriors

May 27th, 2019 at 6:46pm CST by Dana Gauruder

One of the more bizarre stories this season has been Patrick McCaw‘s odyssey. The Warriors wanted to re-sign the reserve guard but McCaw played hardball with them. He eventually signed a non-guaranteed offer sheet with the Cavaliers. His stay in Cleveland was brief and he later signed for the remainder of the season with the Raptors.

With his current team set to play his former team in the Finals, McCaw spoke at length with Marc Spears of The Undefeated about why he chose that path.

Here are some of the highlights:

McCaw wanted to have a bigger role. “I just wanted more. Not necessarily more playing time, but more opportunity for myself. I’m not discrediting the Warriors and what they chose to do. I just think being a young kid, you see all the younger guys competing and doing their thing and you feel like, ‘OK, I’m just that kid, or I could be doing exactly what he’s doing.’ ”
His agents at the time, Marlon Harrison and Bill Duffy, urged him to accept Golden State’s two-year, $4MM offer but the restricted free agent but he wouldn’t budge. “Maybe I could just go back and finish, just go back for a year, see what happens, see where it took me,” McCaw said. “I just felt like once it got past preseason, I was just adamant about not going back. I was just stuck right there.”
There was a perception that Cleveland did him a favor by signing him to the offer sheet that the Warriors didn’t match, only to release him shortly thereafter. But McCaw denies that. “I didn’t like how the media portrayed it, like we had something (else) lined up already,” he said. “Yeah, that wasn’t the case at all.”
The personal reasons cited for McCaw’s absence during most of the Eastern Conference Finals was due to a family tragedy. His older brother, Jeffrey McCaw, died.