Wolves sign McLaughlin (3/$6.5 million)

[Mamba4Goat]

Well, this isn't exactly true...a great deal would be paying him what he was worth, this deal is an overpay, though the overpayment isn't really high.

I think Jordan McLaughlin is comfortably worth $6.5MM over three years, especially given the flexibility of the Team Option.

He is a minimum contract player. This was an overpayment. I am sure they were making up some for previous years and why it was done, but this deal is above market value.

This contract is marginally more than the min.

However, McLaughlin is absolutely worth slightly more than the min. You’re going to have to explain your logic a little here.

[KGdaBom]

I think Jordan McLaughlin is comfortably worth $6.5MM over three years, especially given the flexibility of the Team Option.

He is a minimum contract player. This was an overpayment. I am sure they were making up some for previous years and why it was done, but this deal is above market value.

This contract is marginally more than the min.

However, McLaughlin is absolutely worth slightly more than the min. You’re going to have to explain your logic a little here.

I'm very much in agreement with Mamba. J Mc is getting barely above the minimum and I can think of many players in the NBA who are worth less than he is.

[packforfreedom]

iam okay with it. I am not the biggest Jmac fan in this board but this is a fair deal. I think he could see more minutes next season than before

[SO_MONEY]

I think Jordan McLaughlin is comfortably worth $6.5MM over three years, especially given the flexibility of the Team Option.

He is a minimum contract player. This was an overpayment. I am sure they were making up some for previous years and why it was done, but this deal is above market value.

This contract is marginally more than the min.

However, McLaughlin is absolutely worth slightly more than the min. You’re going to have to explain your logic a little here.

Jmac is not worth slightly more than the minimum, that is my logic. There is a long list of PGs I would rather have making the minimum. Are all of those players underpaid? You're going to have to explain your logic a little here.

[winforlose]

Getting J-Mac for marginally more than the min feels pretty good. The contract stability is worth it on his end too.

By the way, two-way deals suck for NBA talents. J-Mac got hurt by this.

I respectfully disagree. Given his size and struggles when he first played for the NBA Wolves I wonder if he ever makes it to the NBA without the two way contract. Even if he makes NBA minimum money his entire career, I believe it still far exceeds what most G League or semi pro players make in their careers. I do 100% agree that going slightly above the minimum feels good both for the options it provides and for the brand rehab it shows.

Rosas has a reputation for playing hardball with low end contract players. Nowell when he was first drafted, JMAC last season, and now JMAC and Vando this season. He is also the guy who got Naz on the best contract imaginable for a solid rotation player. It will be interesting to see how this reputation effects things moving forward.

[Klomp]

Getting J-Mac for marginally more than the min feels pretty good. The contract stability is worth it on his end too.

By the way, two-way deals suck for NBA talents. J-Mac got hurt by this.

I respectfully disagree. Given his size and struggles when he first played for the NBA Wolves I wonder if he ever makes it to the NBA without the two way contract. Even if he makes NBA minimum money his entire career, I believe it still far exceeds what most G League or semi pro players make in their careers. I do 100% agree that going slightly above the minimum feels good both for the options it provides and for the brand rehab it shows.

This is a good point. Two-way contracts have given countless opportunities that many players probably wouldn't be afforded.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[SO_MONEY]

Getting J-Mac for marginally more than the min feels pretty good. The contract stability is worth it on his end too.

By the way, two-way deals suck for NBA talents. J-Mac got hurt by this.

I respectfully disagree. Given his size and struggles when he first played for the NBA Wolves I wonder if he ever makes it to the NBA without the two way contract. Even if he makes NBA minimum money his entire career, I believe it still far exceeds what most G League or semi pro players make in their careers. I do 100% agree that going slightly above the minimum feels good both for the options it provides and for the brand rehab it shows.

This is a good point. Two-way contracts have given countless opportunities that many players probably wouldn't be afforded.

The problem lies with collective bargaining, because unions it cannot both create opportunity while also protecting existing members. And employers can not draw in new talent. So what happens under unions is they create different job classifications, often sub par, to prevent risk and increase security of it's more senior members to not push them out in favor of younger, cheaper possibly more talented labor...but also allow employers some access to that labor pool.

[LibertyPrime]

Happy for JMac, who has always done a little better than you might expect. That kind of money can set you and your kids up for life, if you're careful. Given how often D'Angelo's been out we need a guy who can step in at PG at a moment's noice.

[Klomp]

Read on Twitter

[shangrila]

I thought that was interesting too. When the news came out that they were happier to do a deal after the Rubio trade freed up minutes I thought for sure the Beverley trade would have killed it. And yet here he is, back on a deal only slightly above the minimum with tons of team control.

I don't even know what that says. Is his market that barren? Is restricted depressing him that much? You'd have to think if someone was truly interested they'd at least make an offer. It's not like he's the kind of guy that's going to tie up your cap.

[Calinks]

I can say the same thing about Jmac I said before last season, being the 3rd PG on this team is a big deal. Bigger role than most. Dlo misses a lot of time with rest/injury. Pat Bev will very likely miss several games too. McLaughlin will get a lot of minutes and probably some starts, he still gets to showcase and grow his game a lot, he wont just be riding pine all season, he will be a key piece. There is value in that.

[Klomp]

I thought that was interesting too. When the news came out that they were happier to do a deal after the Rubio trade freed up minutes I thought for sure the Beverley trade would have killed it. And yet here he is, back on a deal only slightly above the minimum with tons of team control.

I don't even know what that says. Is his market that barren? Is restricted depressing him that much? You'd have to think if someone was truly interested they'd at least make an offer. It's not like he's the kind of guy that's going to tie up your cap.

I think a big part of the difference is the flexibility Beverley has to play with other guards. We knew that the Russell and Rubio pairing didn't work, because Rubio didn't have that flexibility.

Beverley comes in having lots of positive experience playing alongside smaller guards (Williams, Jackson, etc), He can play off of Russell (or McLaughlin) offensively while taking the lead ballhandler on defense. That flexibility means McLaughlin isn't necessarily as buried as he would've been.

[shrink]

The RealGM article had a complimentary summary of JMac that I appreciated.

Despite his status as a Two-Way player, McLaughlin became a regular rotation player for the Wolves in both 2019-20 and 2020-21. Over that time, he's played in 81 games (four starts) and averaged 18.9 minutes per game. McLaughlin has put up averages of 5.9 points, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals over two seasons in the NBA.

Following a successful rookie year on a Two-Way, McLaughlin had trouble finding traction on a standard contact due to his restricted free agent status. That led him to re-signing with the Timberwolves on a second Two-Way deal. McLaughlin again outperformed that contract and has now found some long-term security on a standard deal

The article was attributed to Woj, and I had a link to his Twitter. Not sure if he wrote those two paragraphs, but one response to Woj made me laugh, so I wanted to share it with you guys:

“Bro, why you always on Twitter?”

[shrink]

I thought that was interesting too. When the news came out that they were happier to do a deal after the Rubio trade freed up minutes I thought for sure the Beverley trade would have killed it. And yet here he is, back on a deal only slightly above the minimum with tons of team control.

I don't even know what that says. Is his market that barren? Is restricted depressing him that much? You'd have to think if someone was truly interested they'd at least make an offer. It's not like he's the kind of guy that's going to tie up your cap.

I think the nba market has a surplus supply of PG’s right now. People either have stars, they have good players, or they have lottery pick youth, often for their starter and back up. Meanwhile, new players coming up at all positions are working on their overall game, and stars often have the ball in their hands more. Finally, with all these young players working on their handle, teams have more choices for a third stringer that might have more size, because the nba-is more switch-heavy. I don’t think this means these bigger kids are overall more valuable than JMac, just that teams aren’t focusing time and resources for the third string PG.

I’m happy for Jmac and happy for the Wolves. The huge NBA salaries blind us to the fact that making $2 mil a year is a lot of money in the real world. I always think of Kurt Warner bagging groceries at an Iowa HyVee to make ends meet before he got a chance to get back in the NFL, and it makes me happy when guys I look on the periphery of the NBA get these deals.