3 reasons why Patrick McCaw would be a good signing for the Pacers
By Tony East
Adding Wing Depth
Patrick McCaw plays a position that is both valuable in the grand scheme of the NBA and one that the Pacers are shallow at. He is a wing.
It is trite to talk about the importance of wings at this point. Everyone knows the value of good 3-and-D players, and they require the least amount of context to plug into a team. If you can defend and shoot the outside shot, you fit in the current iteration of the NBA in some capacity.
McCaw has half of those skills. But that is why the wing discussion is trite – there are other ways that wings can be good outside of 3-and-D. McCaw is not a good 3-point shooter at this point in his career, and he was just average in college. But who cares? He can defend pretty well on-ball and he has other skills that make him a useful player.
For example, he is a great finisher at the rim – he has hit 66.4 percent of his shots from 0-3 feet in his career. His height helps him here, he’s 6’7 with a long wingspan, so he is able to keep the ball up high and finish well.
His long wingspan and tall stature also help him defend on the ball well. He averaged 1.3 steals per 36 minutes in Golden State and is capable of being a nuisance for his matchup. His team defense definitely needs some work, but the baseline of skills are there.
He would be a project, but McCaw would add depth to the incredibly shallow Pacers wing rotation. After Bojan Bogdanovic and Doug McDermott, the Pacers have… nobody. Even at the lowest point of analysis, Patrick McCaw adds a level of depth that the Pacers don’t presently have. Add in that he has some NBA skills and you’ve got a wing that is worth attempting to develop.
Speaking of development, let’s get into another good reason to pounce on McCaw.