[highlight] Mac McClung drops 59 POINTS & becomes all-time leading scorer in G League history
Solid defender
He nearly has a negative net rating in the G-League this year because he is so bad at defense
I think a more effective conversation is how is his defense compared to idk Trae Young
it’s probably on par, but traes offensively great against nba level opponents.
when i watched the bulls game mac played in this year, he just couldn’t get his game off vs nba defenders. got swatted numerous times and was just hunted every play defensively, it was pretty rough to watch.
sure you could argue the sample size is small, but unless you’re great offensively like curry, brunson or maxey or at the very least a competent on ball defender like gary payton or quickley, i just don’t see him being a viable option for his height
When you said Gary Payton was just a competent defender I almost lost it before remembering he has a kid in the league with the same name lmao
Gary Payton II is also much more than a competent defender
GPII is a center in a small body
The Mitten
Same lmao, that seem’s like too much of an ommission
I dont get it either like Quickley ok is an offensive guy, I get what he’s going for. Gary Payton II is a guy more known for his defense and effort than his offense and they are not in d same bracket
I think the bulls were hoping he would be like a Nate Robinson for them, but turns out he’s not quite athletic or agile enough to be at that level
He’s a far far better defender than Trae Young. When he’s been an NBA role player he’s a bad defender basically because of size alone, which still makes him bad, but leagues above Trae.
Trae Young looks like Draymond Green to Mac McClung
Prime draymond.
Trae is also all-time elite at the things he does best but you’ll ever convince casuals of this
Ben Simmons agrees.
Trae can be bad at defense because at his best he was a top 5-10 offensive player in the league, Mac McClung is not gonna be a 28 and 10 guy like Trae was
Trae is more than a scorer. Guy is a passing savant capable of lifting entire offences
Whats defense? We play defense in the nba?
Solid defender? Bro he’s one of the worst defenders ever lmao
How this guy can’t get a slot even as an end of the bench backup guard in NBA is beyond me.
Says more about you than McClung.
How so? He’s played in NBA and done well in his minutes and absolutely dominated the G league
What’s their left for him to do to get a chance?
He’s an undersized volume scorer who can’t defend and is past development age. He provides nothing for a team and has no future potential. There’s no reason to waste a spot on him to do nothing when there’s 18-20 year olds to develop
Not to mention that he has the dominate the ball, so the offense will stagnate with him on the floor. The absolute best case scenario for him is playing 15mpg as the first option on a bench unit during which he scores 10ppg and gives up 20ppg on the other end. He’s just not good enough at the one thing he’s good at to be worth it.
The past development age doesn’t really matter. It is just undersized score first guard who can’t defend. Deep rotation players are there to rebound, defend, and catch and shoot. They are not there to be ball dominant.
He’s the NBA equivalent of a AAAA player. Too good for the GLeague but not good enough for the NBA.
He’s gotten at least 3 chances?
>He’s played in NBA
Sounds like he had a chance
He played well in his limited NBA minutes and didn’t get signed anyways then went back to dominating G league, nothing more for him to do
He played well in his limited NBA minutes
A quick vacation to basketball reference says the opposite.
Care to provide any details?
He played horrible defense, couldn’t run an offense, couldn’t pass, screen, move well off ball, defend in isolation, rotate on defense, was unswitchable, the list goes on. He can score on middling efficiency against end of the bench guys and whatever team he’s playing on gets absolutely blasted when he’s out on the court if he’s playing outside of garbage time. He’s a novelty, not someone any team wants to waste a roster slot on when he is past the age he will develop. Better to get any kid out of college or overseas with even the smallest flash of potential and cross your fingers then invest in the known meager commodity of Max McClung.
And I like the guy. He’s entertaining.
Thanks for the description. I think that’s a pretty fair assessment of him
Also I was hoping for that guy to drop the statistics he apparently saw but didn’t care to share
Yeah I mean I would say the opposite of what he said. A quick trip to bball reference shows he was putting up stats in short minutes. I would just argue that they were empty stats against guys who averaged a few minutes per game over the course of the season and he did it to the detriment of a functioning offense with rough looking defense.
Not for lack of effort, he’s just not that guy. I wish he’d be more realistic with himself and stop trying to force his way into the NBA through the G league. He could make a ton of money as an exciting player overseas with a slightly lower level of play he could be a star in. It’s too bad. But if he didn’t have that work ethic and that drive to prove himself he wouldn’t have been this close to being an NBA rotation player in the first place.
Thank you, this was exactly my point, going and checking the stats like that both proved him wrong and also didn’t give a very good indication of what was going on in games. It was literally the worst argument he could have made, akin to checking bronnys stats where he played for 2 minutes and hit a bunch of 3s down 20 in garbage time.
Also I agree with the overseas sentiment. His contract value in the NBA seems to be very low, so he could realistically improve his salary, and instead of averaging 0 min a game, he would be as you said, a star.
This year was the most number of games Mac has ever played in a season with a grand total of 4.
Across those 4 games he averaged 11.8 MPG, scored 5.8 ppg on with an eFG of 40%. He averaged 1.3 rebounds and .5 assists, though he did rack up 1.5 Steals and .5 blocks per game, but again that’s only over 4 games.
Now, his best statistical year was probably 2022-23 where he averaged 20.5 MPG, scored 12.5ppg with an eFG of 55%. He averaged 5 rebounds and 4 assists but recorded no steals or blocks. That seems like it would indicate potential to have a spot on the bench… except that was only across 2 games.
If a guy is consistently only playing 2-3 games a season for 5 years now, it’s unlikely that it’s because he’s getting overlooked, especially since he’s probably the most well known name in the G League outside of Bronny James.
If a guys that much of an outlier in G league he’s NBA ready, just hasn’t gotten a real chance. And no, 4 games with 11 minutes isn’t enough
Bruh he’s not invisible. The coaches and GMs are watching him, the team practices every week, they’re surely giving him opportunities to compete, if he’s not getting on the court it’s because he’s not beating anyone else out on the bench for those spots.
Except, he’s not even that much of an outlier in the g league. He’s about as much an outlier in the g league as Bradley beal was an outlier in the nba. Sure, he can score, but that’s about it. Even for the g league, he’s a bad defender lol. He’s like if trae young was an even worse defender, didn’t know how to pass, and was less efficient on offense.
Sure, if you put him in the NBA and give him the ball he can score some points. But giving the ball to almost anyone else would result in more points, and the opposing guard will drop 30 on his head.
It’s been repeated several times why and you don’t respond because you know you don’t have a leg to stand on. Just give it up.
He has had his chances, if he was better he would play. You and him need to accept that he is just not an NBA player
He has a career BPM of -4.5 playing against exclusively end of the bench talent. If he were to play a full 82 games it would likely be the worst individual season in NBA history.
What did you see that made you think he played well?
You know Cam Thomas, who the Bucks just waived? He’s a way better than McClung and he can’t hold a job down.
“Done well in minutes” 56 points (on sub 40%) shooting and 15 assists in 10 games is not well.
Agendas are corny and transparent.
Cam thomas is 4x the scorer he is, and he got waived. And mcclung is a terrible defender.
I think there’s just too much NBA guard talent ahead of him, at least on teams that want to win. Tanking teams would prefer to bank on potential or keep players rostered that they think they can trade.
What are the limitations in this dude’s game that would prevent him from being a rotation player in the Euroleague. Is he just too small?
He’d definitely make more money in Europe, but he’s deliberately stayed in the G-League, just waiting on that NBA spot.
That doesn’t make sense to me personally. Why not prove himself in Europe, and then he can also expect to one day fulfill his dream of becoming an NBA player?
Worked for people like Pat Beverly.
Yeah he’s in a weird position
He’s not good enough for the nba… too bad at defense, too small, and can’t handle being defended by nba defenders. But he’s an baller and is great in the g league
I know it sucks moving across the planet to a place that doesn’t speak the same language but he would be a GOD in China or some other Asian leagues
Truly, if I made enough money to put food on my table and live near my family, I’d be happy.
If I made that money playing fucking basketball, I’d be in heaven.
I get it’s different for a professional like himself, but I don’t think it’s as easy for these guys to fly around the world to a place thousands of miles from home for a few more zeros and people you won’t know chanting your name poorly.
As a European I don’t understand this, in particular: “live near my family” part. USA is so huge and teams are so far apart that they’re still constantly travelling by plane on far away locations, even though it’s the same country.
In Euroleague there’s more free time and less games, so it’s not like rich person can’t find many times to fly from Europe to USA, especially Eastern USA. And not like he can’t invite his family to join him at his condo in Europe. Why would someone be so averse to traveling to some of the most historic cities which are let’s face it mostly much more beautiful than USA which doesn’t have much history.
Having an entire ocean between you and your family, as opposed to land, is a bit restricting for some people.
You’re right. But I don’t think you know how ignorant the average American is and how little curiosity they actually have. As you said a person living on the East Coast can access Europe nearly as easily as they can access Western states. And the cultural payoff of playing in Europe is very desirable to anyone with an adventurous mind. Sadly that’s not what the American educational system encourages from its students, much less its athletes. Many players will never recognize all of the upsides of a having a European career. Too bad.
The dunk contest earned him so much of his NBA earnings, I’m still surprised he didn’t try it again this season. He would have definitely won again. It was horrible this year. The winning dunk by Keshad Johnson was so weak.
He genuinely should’ve been there since the pros can’t be asked to give a shit about something that’s celebrating them.
Yeah, I mean he basically has the same issue as Johnny Davis did, which is that if you are a smaller, score-first point guard, you have to be an insane scorer to be viable and you can be very, very talented, but those guys are basically optimized in a way as to make the most talent have the least impact on winning in an NBA game. So they can crush it even in the G League or the Euroleague but that extra 5% of length and athleticism in the NBA just completely shuts the faucet off on their production.
Mac is probably “better” than Johnny Davis (who I know is 6’4”) in terms of his skills with a basketball and if Mac were 6’5” he’d be a viable backup guard, but it’s just a tough life as a small guard.
I mean you don’t have to go to China, you could go to Euroleague. Shane Larkin went from solid backup to league MVP in Euro ball, at this point it’s probably just stubbornness to make the league and stay close to family more than anything
He’s on the Jimmer Fredette career trajectory
He scored 54 a week or so ago. I wonder what he’ll do next season. I’m sure he wants to crack an NBA rotation, but averaging nearly 32 and 8 assists isn’t getting him a spot from the looks of things. Kawamura has been less efficient in his scoring in the G League, but has been called up to the Bulls more than McClung. Presumably because Yuki is a better squad player and playmaker. Or purely because he’s a fan favourite.
I’m sure if McClung uses his dunk champ rep, plus this great scoring year in the G League, then he’d surely get a better payday playing overseas.
His agent needs to get him an audition with a CBA team while he can still play. The dunks and scoring could make him a big star over there.
If Jimmer Fredette can average almost 40 then so can McClung
Kinda agree he needs to go anywhere he can get real minutes at this point
Thats the only real path for him. Play in a foreign league, and if you can dominate a gm might just think enough of him to have a mike james/Nigel hayes-davis type career
The 9+ guy in the rotation is not there to dominate the ball and get up his shots. They are there to defend, rebound, and catch and shoot open 3s. He sucks at the parts of the game that you are looking for in your deep rotation, he is in not nearly good enough to be the best scorer off the bench that leads the offense when the starters are resting.
It’s his/ or was his 4th year on a two-way deal so he either gets a nba standard deal or goes overseas. He could still play in the g too next year too, of course but I don’t see somebody giving him a regular deal this or next year tho.
Could be interesting if expansion is happening for maybe like one year but after that I don’t think he has much more time in the league because he is pretty much one dimensional.
Mf really said solid defender LMAO
If he went abroad, the flashy style and talent would make him a lot of money. But he’s not good enough for the NBA
He could get the bag in taiwan, staying in the g-league just shows that his dream to make it in the nba means more to him.
Not good enough based on what? He hasn’t gotten enough playing time to even assess him
Just let it go man 😭
He is a negative defender in the G league. His defensive win share is also very bad.
His turnover rate is very high even in the G league.
Like players like Cam Thomas who is a great offensive talent but has no defense(still better than Mac) has been waived.
Yuki who is similar is at least defensive enough to get an end of the bench contract.
Bronny James gets shit on but he is not a defensive liability in the G league and is very efficient.
But the upside is one is younger.
Still at least he has a 2 way contract.
Plus even with him playing his team is losing.
How much minutes someone gets is also determined in practice. If he is getting smoked by his NBA level teammates in practice then the coach isn’t gonna give him a chance in a game.
I mean neither has Jabe Mullins but he doesn’t need to for teams to know he’s not going to be a contributing player on an NBA roster lol. Some dudes clearly do not have it; no NBA team needs to let me shit the bed for 20 games to know I can’t hoop at that level, no NBA team needs to let Mac do it either
If Mac McClung was good enough to be on an NBA rotation he’d be on an NBA rotation. Fact is there’s no vendetta against the dunking white guy he just isn’t good enough to play in the worlds best league. It’s not deeper than that. He just is not good enough. And that’s okay.
But what does that say about the G-League, if the best G-League players aren’t good enough to compete in the NBA?
In European sports, the best teams from the lower division get promoted and even if they are heavy underdogs, they are at least able to compete. A team of the best G-Leaguers would probably get smoked, even by the worst NBA teams.
Objectively false statement, some guys like Bronny and Podz get many chances, others don’t
Those guys are both much better defenders than Mac
Bronny is also the son of LeBron James.
Wait what? That’s crazy, why does nobody bring that up?
Which was kind of his point. Players should get rostered on talent, not connections.
C’mon man, Podz is clearly a superior player. Love Mac, but that’s ridiculous.
Podz is actually 13 PT per game scorer in the NBA.
Bronny while offensively lacking in the NBA is young and is actually a decent defender and is plus 14.7 while shooting more efficiently than Mac.
Mac is negative defensively in the Gleague and +3 net when he is playing.
I love him but there are better players not being given the chance.
Jahmir young who is currently second in the G league scoring is a neutral defender (better than Mac) and similar scorer but he isn’t getting a shot yet.
There are multiple guys who are better defensively while scoring 20+ in the G league that are younger and developing.
It’s also disingenuous to include Bronny in these conversations without complete context. Whether anyone likes it or not, LeBron James Jr. will get more chances and leeway in the NBA than others. It’s how the world works. Not to scant Bronny ofc, he’s shown what he can do in the G-League too and is on a different level defensively.
Not trying to diss him at all, but it feels like he’s been in the G League forever. I wonder if he would’ve washed out the league entirely if he wasn’t the dunk contest GOAT
He’s had multiple chances. He’s just too small, no defense
Also not the best shooter and can’t run an offense as a PG
I’m surprised no tanking teams like Wizards or Pacers would sign him and see what he has, give him some real minutes.
Maybe he surprises you and you can flip him in a trade for someone else
The Pacers did sign him lol. He played very few games for us though.
Teams have dude. He’s signed with multiple teams and he was not good. Just because he did some scoring against guys who are no longer in the NBA in garbage time does not mean he can play meaningful NBA minutes. When the Sixers had real injuries and he had to play real minutes he was the worst player in the league playing more than 10 minutes per game. He couldn’t defend, switch, rotate, run an offense, pass, his shooting was suspect and he couldn’t get it up over taller defenders, and he needed the ball in his hands to be remotely effective.
Just because he got some counting stats doesn’t mean he was any good in the NBA.
Teams tried.
Probably just not good enough for a smaller guard, but he is probably too good for the G-league. He really should consider a move to the Euroleague to make more money.
Defense is even more important in euroleague, there is no chance he goes there. Especially as undersized guard
China, then?
Larkin has been a solid pg for a decade in the EL. He isnt much of a defender either.
mac mcclung is so bad at defense you might actually be better off having him just stand stationary upright at the top of the key on all defensive possessions
Should have went to Europe years ago
In baseball terms. Classic AAAA player. He can self create at the G League level. But at the NBA level? He is not blowing by the initial defender. He is not finishing against legit paint defenders. Good shooter, but we seen better 3 point specialist flame out. Meh, playmaker. And despite trying on defesne, gets picked on.
He only has one possible role on an NBA team. Microwave type scorer off the bench. But he’s not a good enough shooter to excel at that.
If he played defense at an average level or something acceptable - he would be on an NBA bench. That’s his biggest problem. He’s awful defensively and he’s short.
He’s a better shooter than rob Dillingham. Also TJ McConnell is about the same size and doesn’t shoot 3s much. Mac McClung more athleticism than him, and there’s no reason he can’t take his role.
Mac can’t take TJ’s role since TJ is good at defense and passing. Mac sucks at both.
Source: I watched them both play for the Pacers this year lmao
Mac only had 1 assist as a Pacer.
Mac is 27. The time for development is over. Dillingham is 21 with room to grow. TJ is good in the areas Mac sucks. If there was no reason he couldn’t take his role, he’d be on an NBA roster.
There’s more to staying on an nba team than being able to shoot.
Dillingham will also not be on a roster if he keeps shooting and playing at his current level so idk what that proves lol
As the great poet Skee Lo once said. I wish I was a baller, I wish I was taller,
I swear everytime I see someone post these big games of his on social media, I check the box score and his team lost. I won’t put that entirely on him, but I’m pretty sure they won’t even make gleague playoffs
Season ticket holder here. We’re not making the playoffs. March has been absolutely brutal. Multiple 40 point loses. Hes fun to watch make unnecessary 360 layups, but they routinely give the points right back on the other end of the floor. Hes a terrible floor general. His teammates on the bench always look annoyed about his lack of playmaking ability. All year Ive watched him throw himself into the lane and beg for a foul instead of hitting his wide open teammate in the corner. I remember a game early in the season with RJ Nembhard begging for the ball from him while he dribbled into a turnover. I yelled “RUBEN WAS WIDE FUCKING OPEN, MAC” RJ looked over at me and said “man, thats what Im fucking saying…” its been an honor to watch him put up these crazy numbers and make amazing layups and dunks every game, but it doesn’t equal wins. I miss Carlik Jones
yea you could’ve see it in the highlights too
mac took the harder shot instead of hitting the open man
He should take the Jimmer Fredette route. Basketball is a global sport. You can have an amazing career without being that guy in the NBA.
Never gonna get that stat padding in the G League.
needs to get in the lab with TJ mcconnell this post season fr
solid defender
McClung makes Cam Thomas look like Wemby
I wish the basketball in the US really had a thriving lower leagues, because a guy like Mac McClung should be getting paid decently well to be a star G-Leaguer, even if he’d never make sense in the NBA.
Call me max mclung cause I can score in the g League but my defense still sucks.
Because he’s an awful defender lol, where the hell are you getting that he’s a solid defender? If he was actually a solid defender he’d be sitting on the bench somewhere in the league
Cam Thomas would cook Mac and he got waived.
Same reason why Jimmer wasn’t called back despite being CBA’s Wilt Chamberlain applies to Mac.
This dude needs to drop his NBA dream and come make some money in Europe
Ya u lost me at solid defender…
Bro chose goat of G-league rather than goat of China.
Mac Mclung is the perfect G League name
If anything this really just proves how elite the NBA guys are if someone like McClung can’t even get decent minutes there.
Wait till they send Bam down there
Genuinely makes Collin Gillespie look like Jerry West. Stop it.
Bam’s 83 point game is great….but he has never scored 59 in a G League game.
Bro needs to go ahead and get a bag in china
Now do 83.
Lakers should give him the max
I feel bad for this dude. Too good to be in G-League, not good enough to be in the NBA.
Is the G-league the best financially for him or is there an overseas league he can make more in? Cause he should be doing that, he’s just too small for the nba.
Is Mac the G-League GOAT?
Has there ever been a better G-League player that didn’t make it to the NBA?
Mac’s longest stint in the NBA was around one week. I don’t count that as making it in the NBA.
I think we’re so used to talking trash about NBA talent that some people forget how unbelievably talented even the worst players in the league are, and how much of a gulf there is between it and the G League.
He needs to go overseas and earn some real cash at this stage.
The new Vegas team is gonna sign this guy to try and sell tickets
I mean, the Pacers are about the most desperate team for healthy players in NBA history this year and even they didn’t keep him. Some dudes just aren’t gonna make it in the NBA and that’s OK.
Small guards that can’t defend have very little demand in today’s NBA given the current talent, unfortunately
Modern day Jimmer Fredette
The nba has firmly decided to go all in on height because everyone has adopted switch everything defenses. Unfortunately for Mac that means no one will hire him, strictly because of his height and defensive limitations
The best hope for Mac McClung is that he gets an opportunity to be Bones Hyland. Not every team needs that kind of scoring out of their backup PG. Case in point, Cam Thomas was waived twice this year.
Raw G-League stats don’t matter because the level of defense played there is nowhere close to what is seen in the NBA. There’s basically no rim protection, whereas NBA teams have guys like Victor, Bam, hell even Derrick White at guard would be the best defensive center in the G-League. Guys like Jay Huff are G-League DPOY.
Bro just go get your money with pathanaikos or whatever they’ll love you out there
I believe if he can learn how to play better defensively and better playmaking he’ll be a great role player. It’s up to him to make the decision if he wants to play in the nba or not. He clearly has the offensive capabilities but that’s all.
Man can he shoot (based on this and his 54 pt game a week or so ago). All Stars should invite him for 3Pt Contest if he wants to.
Put him on the Rockets. They need an emergency point guard.
More impressive than Bams 83 against the Wizards
The sad thing his team lost by 1, and his potential game-winner got blocked by Trey Alexander.
Other than that, it is surprising he cannot find any role in the NBA.
Ok cool?
Give him a NBA roster spot