Wow, they’ve really drained our whole farm system of talent. Bet something is brought up for future collective bargaining agreements on how many prospects you can swipe from one team. but hey, it’s a great way to save in scouting expenses!
Do we (South Bay) get them back after the 10 day contract(s) are over, if not signed to actual rest of season NBA contracts???
Kudos to our scouts and farm system. Can you think of a bigger compliment? Very cool. And not cool at all if our talent is completely pilfered.
Did he really decide to start growing a Harden type beard? Uggh. On another note maybe by next season he might have a shot at end of the bench if he keeps improving?
i'm still not a mcclung believer, but it would be a great story. the other dude got signed by someone else, and huff didn't do much when he came up (again, iirc). but i don't think we gave mason jones a good look. is bazemore really going to win us more games? but are we past the cutoff for when teams can sign a guy for the playoffs? i can see the FO not wanting to ruin agent relations by cutting guys when they can't sign elsewhere.
Sad, poor guy threw his career away during his prime, now he can’t let it go when he really doesn’t have it anymore. What a waste.
The occasional Mac update for short white guys everywhere . Not that at 6'2" he's exactly a midget, coupled with his athleticism. Eye test says he's grown better with his skills at this level and certainly not inconceivable if he keeps progressing to eventually make a big league roster. Check the stats and occasional better game clips such as this below. Offensively at least. Unless he never gets good enough to be acceptable off the bench on defense and I have no idea there, haven't been watching the games. https://stats.gleague.nba.com/player/1630644/traditional/
his three is looking better, which bodes well for him. he's a little bigger, but he should really be watching film of jj barea, as that's probably his most optimistic upside comp. didn't we bring him up earlier in the year? felt like he didn't look great then. on paper, he seems like someone who could make a roster. he's got good timing on blocks, which you really can't teach.
https://theathletic.com/3207916/2022/03/25/3207916/?source=freeweeklyemail&campaign=602288 For all who don't have a subscription and care 2 cents .... here it is. Long read, and probably a good one, as most with The Athletic are. Sharing here first before I do that now .... the giver I am. Mac McClung making the most of G League stint, time spent with Lakers: ‘I’m too stuck on, how can I get better today?’ By Jovan Buha Mar 25, 2022 9 When Mac McClung arrived at the UCLA Health Training Facility on the first day of Los Angeles Lakers training camp in late September, he felt like he was walking into a real-life version of NBA 2K. McClung looked around the gym and saw LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard — players the then-22-year-old point guard grew up watching and idolizing. “The first day, LeBron had a team meeting with just the players,” McClung told The Athletic. “Like, it’s LeBron. It’s crazy. I’ve watched this guy my whole life. Every time you open anything on social media, this guy’s there. Now you’re with him and practicing with him.” The surreal nature of the moment quickly dissipated by the second day of camp as McClung realized the rare opportunity in front of him. When McClung signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Lakers — a training camp invite that could lead to a two-way contract or, more likely, a spot with their G League team — on Aug. 10, 2021, he knew he would have to scrap to establish himself among his NBA peers. This was that moment. McClung, recognizing he was an afterthought offensively in five-on-five scrimmages, determined that his defense, energy and effort would be the best way to stand out. What better way, he thought, than by defending the Lakers’ star players? McClung matched up against Westbrook and even switched onto James as often as he could. He pressured Westbrook full court. He stuck with him on drives, absorbing blows to his chest. He took charges and dove on the hardwood for loose balls. He fearlessly competed. “I was like, ‘OK, this dude’s got a little stuff to him. Some real-life toughness and some real-life, like, I’m just not gonna back down from anybody or anything,’” South Bay Lakers head coach Miles Simon said. “And I was like, ‘OK, I’d be excited to work with that.’” The first couple of possessions they matched up, Westbrook bulldozed his way through McClung, scoring over him in the paint. “He was just so strong,” McClung said. But McClung didn’t back down despite giving up more than an inch and 15-plus pounds. Eventually, he stopped Westbrook a couple of times. He gained confidence. More than anything, he frustrated him with his incessant presence. “He was probably tired of me,” McClung said. “He’s probably like, ‘Yo, get this kid away from me. Why is this guy picking me up full court?’” The answer to that question stems from McClung’s fiery competitiveness and ambitious dreams of not only making the NBA but also contributing at a high level. It also begs a larger question: How did a 6-foot-2, undrafted guard from Gate City, Virginia, end up in Lakers training camp and produce an MVP-caliber rookie season in the G League? McClung rose to fame in high school due to a series of YouTube mixtapes and viral social-media highlights featuring mind-blowing dunks, gaudy point totals, scowling expressions and deep pull-up 3-pointers. By the time he reached Georgetown in 2018, he had hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram. When McClung decided to transfer from Georgetown in 2020, his recruitment became a story of national interest. Once he announced that Texas Tech, his eventual choice, was among the schools in the running, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes recruited McClung on Twitter. McClung’s profile has been both a gift and a curse. It helped the three-star high school prospect draw interest from bigger college programs and get his name in the zeitgeist. He has also benefited in the form of sponsorships, including JAXXON and REATHLETE, as well as McClung’s own recently launched jump program. But it also drove the misguided perception that he’s merely a dunker or YouTube star, and not an actual NBA-level basketball player. “I don’t let it consume me,” McClung said. “I’m too stuck on, how can I get better today? … I didn’t realize until I met so many people who were like, ‘Man, I thought you were gonna be way different meeting you. I thought you were gonna be a jerk.’ I’m like, ‘Gosh, what am I putting on social media?’ “But I think it’s just the passion I play with. It kinda gets mixed up with my heart off the court and my heart for people. But I just want something so bad that I think you know my facial expressions and stuff may come off as cocky.” The Lakers’ scouting department has a long track record of uncovering underrated talent. After observing McClung at the G League Elite Camp in Chicago, the Lakers were so impressed with him that they invited him to a pre-draft workout. They saw the skill set and athleticism of an NBA-level scorer, with the character and competitiveness that fits into the culture the Lakers have tried to cultivate with their younger prospects. After McClung went undrafted, South Bay Lakers general manager Nick Mazzella was aggressive and transparent with McClung’s agent, Daniel Poneman of Beyond Athlete Management, about the team’s interest in McClung. Poneman and McClung believed the Lakers presented the best long-term opportunity for McClung’s development. “I think what just showed, what drew us to him, was his competitiveness,” Mazzella said. “He’s the guy that will run through a wall for your team.” McClung’s NBA journey began in August at Las Vegas Summer League. McClung laughs when he looks back at his performance, which he, Simon and Mazzella universally agree was disappointing. Through five games, McClung averaged 4.2 points (on 19.4 percent shooting), 2.8 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 16.1 minutes per game. It was not a great first impression on the NBA scene. “My initial reaction when I saw him in summer league was he wasn’t that good,” Simon said. “He didn’t play well. He didn’t make shots. He was shooting contested midrange shots all the time. And the defense wasn’t great. He just didn’t look good.” “I was not happy with my summer league,” McClung added. “I was very disappointed in myself. But I think that needed to happen for me to make a jump as a point guard.” After summer league, McClung met with the Lakers’ coaching staff, including, most notably, Phil Handy, a storied player development guru. Handy told McClung that he’d have to become a pass-first point guard to carve out a role at the NBA level. “I was like, ‘Say no more,’” McClung said. “I could always pass. I could always make the right play and make reads. But I just shifted my mindset. … I started scoring more because I was looking to pass first, and it made my shots more open. So once I found that rhythm, it all clicked and I was like, ‘Man, I love playing the game this way.’ “I fell in love with the point guard role.” Over the next two months, McClung trained relentlessly at the Lakers’ training facility alongside the Lakers’ coaching and player development staff to prepare for training camp. During camp, McClung worked with Simon and developed their on-court rapport. Simon worked with McClung on finishing around the rim, including leveraging his 43.5-inch vertical. They also practiced floaters, pick-and-roll shooting and decision-making, pocket passes, lob passes and reading the low man. And Simon taught McClung the Lakers’ defensive schemes, as well as defending pick-and-rolls, help-side rotations and trailing players through screens, as Simon suspected teams would try to target McClung due to his size. Mazzella initially projected McClung as a sixth-man microwave-type scorer off the bench. Simon, meanwhile, didn’t enter the season with any expectations for McClung. He wanted his team to formulate on its own. Nonetheless, the South Bay Lakers brought in Frank Mason, the 2019-20 G League MVP, to start at point guard. But he got injured at the beginning of the season, creating an opening for McClung to snatch the starting spot. McClung capitalized on the opportunity, flourishing as one of the team’s go-to offensive options and one of the G League assist leaders. He has retained his knack for making dazzling plays — high-flying alley-oops, jaw-dropping assists, flashy spin moves — while becoming even more efficient as a decision-maker (only 3.1 turnovers per game). McClung is averaging 21.8 points (on 47.4 percent shooting), 6.7 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 1.4 steals in 36.7 minutes per game — numbers that Mazzella and Simon believe should have McClung firmly in the G League MVP race. The South Bay Lakers are currently in third place in the Western Conference. “You’re kind of seeing this transformation here to where he’s showing that he could take point guard responsibilities at this league as a rookie — and that’s not an easy thing,” Mazzella said. “We’re going up day after day against a lot of point guards that have had NBA experience. And right now, he’s playing like an MVP candidate of the G League.” Simon added: “He’s been, by far, one of the best players in the G League from Day 1. … Mac is more than deserving of getting MVP votes.” McClung is confident and self-assured, but not in a brash way. He was surprised to hear the MVP buzz and repeatedly said his focus is on winning a championship with the South Bay Lakers this season. “I hadn’t even really been paying attention to any of that,” McClung said. “But wow, that’s definitely high praise. I appreciate them saying that. Hopefully, we can just view me as a champion. I hope we win it all. That’s all I care about right now.” Arguably the biggest benefit to participating in Lakers training camp was McClung observing the veterans, specifically James and Rondo. He watched them to the point that he was worried he probably freaked them out. When McClung arrived at 6 a.m. to work out, James was already wrapping up. Rondo, in particular, motivated McClung to be a better point guard, a better teammate and a better leader. Rondo was always a step ahead of his teammates, and it inspired McClung to approach his role as a point guard in a similar fashion. “He’s always doing something,” McClung said of Rondo. “He’s always on the film. It’s the second hour of film, everybody’s like, ‘Ah, gosh.’ But Rondo and LeBron are into it like it’s the most fascinating film they’ve ever seen. I just loved watching that.” McClung realized that there was much more to being a floor general than simply setting teammates up and running the offense. “I fell in love with the game outside of the game itself,” McClung said. McClung’s stellar G League play drew the interest of several NBA teams early in the season. On Dec. 21, the Chicago Bulls, battling with the COVID-19 protocols that ravaged the league for much of November and December, signed McClung to a 10-day contract. The Bulls promised that McClung would feature prominently in the rotation in a game against the Toronto Raptors with multiple players out. But with so many players on both the Bulls and Raptors ineligible, the game was postponed. By the Bulls’ next game, Zach Lavine and Ayo Dosunmu returned. McClung ended up playing only three minutes in one game across two 10-day contracts. “It was great,” McClung said. “I really enjoyed my time there. That’s such a great organization. I felt like most of my tryout was not during the games but in practice, and I felt like I really showed a lot. So hopefully, I left a good mark with them.” McClung’s experience with the Lakers in training camp prepared him for his opportunity with the Bulls. After sharing the floor with James, Davis and Westbrook, he was able to step into the situation confidently and wasn’t intimated by trying to fit in alongside DeMar DeRozan and LaVine. “‘I was like, ‘Oh, man, I can really do this.’” McClung said. “I have no doubt. I know I can really be an impact player in this league one day. I’m so sure of my abilities. I had really good days. And I was like, ‘Man, I’m one of these guys. This is where I belong.’” In McClung’s first practice back with South Bay, he was going harder than ever, diving on the floor and playing with energy to the point that Simon told him to “chill out.” The Lakers have had to occasionally hold him out of practice because of the physical toll he takes in games. “He came back even hungrier than before,” Simon said. “What I loved about it, he didn’t come back with this air about him or presence about him. Like, ‘Oh, I shouldn’t be in the G League anymore.’ He just came back hungrier.” As the G League season nears its end, McClung isn’t worrying about whether he’s going to be called up by an NBA team over the final few weeks. Several NBA teams are monitoring him. He’s confident that he’s going to get a legitimate chance, either this season or next season. “I feel like I don’t know what my first situation is going to be, my first role, what they’re going to ask me or what they’re going to want to me,” McClung said. “But I think I got to be ready to adapt anything. I think I could do a couple of roles. “But definitely when I go up, I want to be a point guard. I want to get my teammates, make them better and be a spark no matter what. Just make the team better.” The South Bay Lakers, who lead the G League in call-ups this season, are hopeful that a team will see what they see in McClung and sign him to an NBA contract — preferably with the Lakers — during or after the season. “You gotta find just one team that believes in you,” Simon said. “And, hopefully, he finds that team sooner rather than later, because I think he’s an NBA player. And if he continues to have the growth that he’s had with our organization these last five months, then there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll play in the NBA.” Mazzella is preparing for the Lakers to lose McClung to the NBA any day now. “I’m expecting my phone to ring for someone to give him another opportunity, because he’s showing that he deserves consideration,” Mazzella said. And once he’s there, McClung plans on not only staying, but also continuing to exceed expectations as he’s done throughout his basketball career. “I got really big dreams,” McClung said, “and my big dreams aren’t just to make it to the NBA. I really want to be a force and do all I can.” (Photo: Brandon Dill/NBAE via Getty Images)
