January 26, 2016 marked the date of a 130-123 Canton Charge loss to the Delaware 87ers. They allowed the greatest single game scoring performance in D-League history. The man who crafted that 61 point outburst has a familiar name: NBA Champion Jordan McRae.
Shortly after shredding their D-League team, McRae landed a spot with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who had two open spaces to fill. After playing sparingly during his 10 day contract period, McRae was able to garner a three-year deal with the club in a move with an eye to the future. As insane salaries are doled out, the Cavaliers have secured the second year of McRae's deal for a paltry ~$900,000.
Evaluation of McRae's season is difficult. He didn't play much, generally only played in blowouts, and wasn't really used with players you would project to have an impact on the team moving forward. As the Cavs look at low cost options to fill out their bench for this upcoming season though, there could be a real shot for a lanky 6'5 guard like McRae to grab a spot in the rotation. He gave some signs for optimism in a fun (albeit maybe not entirely competitive) finale against the Pistons:
McRae is more of a scorer than anything else, as evidenced by his D-League career and his 36 point outburst in this year's season finale. The minutes are so limited -- 113ish across 15 games -- that true projection is hard, but you can bet that the 64 percent three-point shooting won't hold up. If McRae is going to stick and find a meaningful role in a ball handling 1/2 guard position -- a role potentially being vacated by Matthew Dellavedova -- his three-point shooting has to be better. He shot 32 percent in the D-League, and has enough game off of the dribble that the threat of a consistent 3 point shot could seriously unlock his already strong scoring ability.
Time will tell, but McRae looks to have his first real shot at making a mark in the NBA with the Cavs. Let's see how it works out.