You all have to admit you were excited for Mitch McGary’s future after these two games
I honestly thought McGary was a steal at this point, that he would be the consummate high energy guy that would provide the team with energy off the bench, grab a bunch of offensive rebounds, flash some sneaky post moves, and even develop a decent mid range shot. Basically a David Lee type player. Then the bottom seemingly fell out with McGary almost overnight.
It didn’t help that as he was poised to take the next step at the beginning of last season and he end up getting a concussion which totally took him off his trajectory. That however doesn’t tell the whole story. McGary’s career has seemingly all but gone completely off the tracks after he was suspended for drug use.
It hasn’t been good. So the obvious question is should the Thunder even expect something out of McGary at this point? Is it time to cut bait and just move on, or can he ever reach his ceiling?
I think the best answer to this question is that the jury is still out, with a definite downward trend. Need any further proof, the Thunder drafted a player with a similar skill set and a higher ceiling in Domantas Sabonis after shipping Serge Ibaka to the Orlando Magic.
Sabonis will hopefully serve a wake up call for McGary, as McGary’s skill set just has evaporated. He can pass, he can run the floor in transition. He is a solid rebounder, has some post moves, and a decent jump shot. He just needs to stay out of trouble, stay healthy, and take advantage of probably what will be his last chance.
Honestly it wouldn’t shock me at all to see the Thunder end up moving him in a trade for something. However, there is some good news for McGary. There will be a bunch of minutes available at the power forward position this season with the departure of Ibaka and Durant (who played a decent amount of small ball power forward last season.
McGary will hopefully get his chance to become the player that Thunder fans saw in those two games.