Cleveland Cavaliers: Will Jordan McRae Be Cut? (Updated Story)

The Cleveland Cavaliers are expected to cut Jordan McRae and open up an additional roster spot.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Jordan McRae will likely be cut today as his contract becomes guaranteed Saturday.

Windy: "It's almost a guarantee that Jordan McRae is going to get cut in the next few days..."
— Aaron Goldhammer (@HammerNation19) January 5, 2017

With today being the day for the Cleveland Cavaliers to finalize the deal for Kyle Korver, it makes perfect sense that with the arrival of the sharpshooting guard comes the departure of McRae, a volume shooter who played eerily similar to former Cavalier Dion Waiters.

Neither McRae nor Waiters seemed able to help themselves from hurting the team with their street-ball isolation drives. While it’s true that LeBron James and Kyrie Irving also drive to the rim as much as possible, Irving has always been a willing passer and has been dishing out dimes left and right as of late. James has always drove to the rim with an eye on making a pass.

In perhaps the perfect play, one that presents itself as a microcosm of McRae’s scoring mindset, he was attacking the rim in transition in Wednesday night’s nationally televised game against the Chicago Bulls.

James was streaking right behind him.

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Every fan know that these circumstances are “throw the lob to LeBron James” time. The arena collectively held their breath as they anticipated a breathtaking alley-oop finish from James. They were treated to a shooting foul, on McRae, as he showed no desire to pass the ball to the open man behind him.

Plays like those can change the momentum of the game for the Cavs. Receiving an extra lift from an excitable crowd, Cleveland plays much better when the crowd is in it, cheering for them after every three-point attempt and waiting for another lob to James.

The Cavs, who are also sending away both Mike Dunleavy Jr. and Mo Williams in a trade, will then have two available roster spots open. A point guard is a lock for one of those spots. A center could fit in the other, or the Cavs could choose to leave it open as the sign the best possible piece for their playoff run.

McRae, who was averaging 5.4 points per game on 37.2 percent shooting from the field and 33.3 percent shooting from three-point range, came into the season with lofty expectations from both the team and the fan base. Heralded as a Jamal Crawford-like scorer in the summer, McRae’s basketball IQ or, at the very least his inefficiency and unwillingness to pass, leave a lot to be desired.

He’s prone to making shots like these:

Followed up by missing shots like these:

There’s simply too many instances of bad basketball that make it possible to consider McRae an unreliable player.

When compared to rookie Kay Felder, it’s easy to see the difference between the player buying into the team concept and the one head-hunting for their own shots without regard to the team at all.

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Reading a brief scouting report from McRae’s days at the University of Tennesee will show that McRae hasn’t altered his approach to the game yet, and at 25 years old, it may be too late to get him to change his style of play. In any case, the Cavs probably don’t have time to wait and see or enough bodies to give a roster spot to a player who doesn’t fit the team as it’s currently constructed.

While McRae has friends on the team in James, Irving and Iman Shumpert, there shouldn’t be any damage to the team chemistry. In fact, it should put the Cavs on notice that they’re in a war of attrition, not just a battle. The toughest, healthiest most talented and most focused team will win.

McRae can put points on the board for any team but the question is how many points he loses a team with his inconsistency on both ends of the court. It’s likely that even after showcasing McRae, he didn’t gather much trade interest after showing the wild swings of efficiency within single games.

Who the Cleveland Cavaliers use his roster spot for will be interesting. There’s no doubt that whoever it is will fit what the team is trying to accomplish this season.

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Updated Story – 12:40 PM EST (January 6)

McRae is now, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, staying on the team.

Windy: "By doing this trade, you open a roster spot and you don't have to cut Jordan McRae."
— Aaron Goldhammer (@HammerNation19) January 6, 2017

According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, there is a “zero percent chance” McRae will be cut.

This doesn’t mean he won’t be included in future deals, as the Cavs search for a backup point guard and, likely, a big man. However, with the lack of bodies that the Cavs have it makes little sense to release McRae without adding another player first.

To that point, the Cavs have a free roster spot after trading away Williams and Dunleavy Jr. to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Korver anyways. That spot could be used for a veteran point guard or a big man. If McRae is involved in a future trade (with or without Cedi Osman being included in the deal), the Cavs are likely receiving a pretty good player.

McRae, a talented scorer who has been inefficient this season, has plenty of fans around the Cavs organization and will be given the chance to make his mark on the Cavs team in the present and the future as it stands now.

Do you believe Jordan McRae will stay on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the long term? Let us know in the comments section or Twitter @KJG_NBA.