Cavaliers reportedly sign Patrick McCaw to an offer sheet

In an attempt to both improve the roster for not only this season but also the future, the Cleveland Cavaliers reportedly signed restricted free agent Patrick McCaw to an offer sheet Friday.

Patrick McCaw is just 23 years old and this is his third season in the league. His previous two years were spent with the Golden State Warriors. With the Warriors, McCaw averaged 4.0 points per game each of his first two seasons in a limited role with the club. McCaw’s offer sheet with the Cavaliers is reportedly for $3 million in each of the next two seasons, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Now McCaw is a restricted free agent and the Warriors can match the offer. Golden State  has consistently stated that they are “prepared to match any offer sheet,” for the third-year guard, per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

But matching this offer would launch the Dubs even further into the luxury tax, as was clarified by ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Haynes noted that Golden State has not budged on their stance to maintain McCaw’s rights and, “teams have received word of the Warriors’ intentions and remain hesitant to submit an offer sheet.”

But McCaw and the Warriors also do not appear to be on the best of terms, as the team’s owner, Joe Lacob, said this about the McCaw situation, per Mark Medina of The Mercury News.

"“It completely befuddles me. I’m at a loss.”"

McCaw also originally declined a two-year, nearly $5 million offer (later confirmed $5.2 million) from the Warriors back in October according to The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears, which further complicated matters between the two sides.

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Even if McCaw makes it to Cleveland, his deal would not be fully guaranteed until January 7 if the team chooses to move on from him, per the aforementioned Wojnarowski.

Despite what Haynes reported just over a week ago about Golden State wanting to stick with McCaw, it was reported today that it’s “highly unlikely” that the Warriors will now match Cleveland’s offer sheet, per Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area (h/t Bleacher Report’s Paul Kasabian).

Given the many injuries the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently dealing with, McCaw may be just a short-term solution.

But paying him $3 million over the next two years may be too steep a price to pay for a short-term fix.

Nonetheless, with the Cavaliers’ current situation, McCaw could also be a cheaper option to go with as the team rebuilds post-LeBron James.

As you can see from the video below, McCaw can come into a pressure-packed situation and deliver.

Now would McCaw’s motivation be the same in Cleveland? It’s a fair question considering the fact he was a part of two championship teams in his first two seasons and would be passing up playing with a contender to play on a team with no chance of seeing the postseason.

This also could be nothing more than a way for McCaw to escape restricted free agency and prove himself on a short-term contract. But if McCaw were to prove himself with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he could be a useful piece on what may be an up-and-coming team a couple years from now.

Pairing him alongside Collin Sexton, Rodney Hood, and Tristan Thompson could possibly be a solid nucleus to build around.

For now, we will wait and see if the Warriors choose to match the offer sheet. But the idea of a young player such as McCaw getting a chance to prove himself is rather intriguing on a team looking to go younger in the coming years like the Cavaliers.