Cavs being investigated for Patrick McCaw signing

Patrick McCaw spent very little time with the Cavaliers before he was waived. Now, the entire deal is under investigation.

According to The New York Times’ Marc Stein, Cleveland is being investigated for possible salary cap circumvention. The investigation, which was requested by McCaw’s old team — the Warriors — could result in the Cavs losing draft picks and/or a fine of up to $6 million.

The investigation will seek to determine if the Cavs, who signed McCaw to a non-guaranteed, two-year offer sheet worth $6 million, signing McCaw as a way to help him become an unrestricted free agent and not as a player the team genuinely wanted to sign. McCaw played three games with the Cavs before being waived the day before his contract would have been become guaranteed for this season.

The Cavs reportedly have interest in signing McCaw to a new deal once he clears waivers. He will become an unrestricted free agent on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

It’s far too early to tell if the Cavs will face any punishment here or if they did anything wrong. But it is not a good sign that they are being investigated for this and that it’s even a possibility that they could lose picks.

Being fined would surely be bad. But imagine if they lost their 2019 first round pick. That’s going to be a top-five pick in all likelihood, and it could set the franchise back a decade if they lose it.