Guard Patrick McCaw has been an effective role player throughout his short tenure with the Golden State Warriors, providing stifling defense for the back-to-back champions. Now a restricted free agent, McCaw is looking for a pay raise, but the franchise hasn’t budged from their initial two-year, $5.2 million offer after McCaw declined his $1.7 million qualifying offer.
Throughout this contract dispute, the UNLV product has avoided his teammates and the team overall, as he was absent for the entirety of training camp and preseason, with the Warriors’ regular-season opener on Tuesday. Some of his Golden State teammates have spoken anonymously on the holdout, according to Marcus Thompson II of the Athletic:
A few Warriors players talked to him before camp, advising him on what to do. But as his holdout has continued, he has not responded to several players checking in on him. Veterans, champions—the kind of men McCaw should be listening to—are being shut out.
“‘You can’t do this after two years,’ one player said. ‘You’ve got to get the clout first. He doesn’t have the leverage.'”
“He’s a man, and I support his decision to handle his business how he sees fit,” one of the team’s young players told Thompson. “I don’t know what he’s doing. I don’t understand. But I don’t take it as personal. He has to do what’s best for him. It’s just weird.”
Another long-term veteran said the Warriors will still support McCaw if he returns to the team, however.
“He’s lucky that way,” he said. “He has a team of good dudes who support him and will embrace him. That’s our brother.”
The Warriors’ bench could really use McCaw’s services, as there isn’t much depth at shooting guard behind Klay Thompson, but having him on the team is far from a necessity. Golden State will enter this season as the title favorites with or without the third-year guard.
