Mac McClung
Profile:
Position: Shooting Guard
Role: Three-Level Shot Creator
Age: 21
Nation: USA
Year: Junior
College: Texas Tech
Height: 6’2
Wingspan: 6’5
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Weight: 185 lbs
Stats:
Positives:
- Excellent shot creator. McClung’s go-to skill is his ability to generate offense for himself. He is good at generating space off the dribble and can knock down pull-up jumpers. He is best operating in the mid-range but can extend his range back beyond the arc. He is a capable finisher on the inside and has a nice floater game for when the inside is contested.
- Electric finisher. He gets to the basket well off of his speedy handle and finishes with a nice touch at the rim. He has excellent body control and is capable of some truly acrobatic finishes.
- Dynamic handler. McClung moves very well with the ball and is a very speedy handler. He can penetrate defenses and get to the rim, as well as reliably create separation off the dribble in order to get his shot off.
- Shooting upside. His 34.3 3P% is somewhat underwhelming, but nearly 80% from the free-throw line is a good sign that he has a solid shooting touch.
Negatives:
- Undersized. McClung is only 6’2 and his 6’5 wingspan is average at best. His size would be less of a problem if he was a true point guard, but he isn’t much of a playmaker and is better suited as a combo guard. Being his height and having to shift up and play the 2 gives him a huge size disadvantage against many of the other shooting guards in the league.
- Poor playmaker. McClung is a score-first player who is always looking for his shot. He ends up forcing the issue more often than he should rather than creating for his teammates. He has limited passing vision and a lot of the passes he makes are inaccurate or easy to pick off. As a result, he averaged almost as many turnovers as he did assists.
- Inconsistent on offense. McClung was the primary creator for his team in college and as a result, he ended up taking a lot of shots, with a fair number of them being bad shots. He has a tendency to play somewhat out of control and many of the shots he takes are far too contested to be forcing the issue. He also is a streaky player who goes through some truly hot streaks but can also go through cold streaks.
- Not a good defender. As a 6’2 player with limited length, the physical cards are already stacked against McClung on the defensive end. However, it is also defensive discipline that makes McClung a defensive liability. He gambles a fair bit, which can lead to breakdowns for his team. He also loses his man off the ball far too often, which allows easy opportunities for his man.
Upside:
- Donte DiVincenzo
- Malik Monk
- Dwayne Bacon
Notes:
Mac McClung is a former high school sensation who used to dazzle audiences with his high-flying dunks. However, the excitement died down after he left for college and three less-than-ideal years could leave him on the outside of the draft looking in. Outside of his athleticism, McClung’s strengths lie with his scoring ability. McClung is very good at creating his own shot in isolation. He can score at all three levels and has an impressive bag of moves to get his shot off. He is an impressive finisher on the inside and also has some shooting upside.
The issues with McClung start with his size. He is neither tall nor long, which drastically reduces his margin for error. He also isn’t a very good playmaker, which effectively makes him a shooting guard, a position he is much too small to play on a regular basis. McClung also struggles with inconsistency. He is fairly inconsistent from all three levels and goes through both hot streaks and cold streaks that limit his reliability. He isn’t the best shooter, nor is he a good defender, which limits his utility as a role player. McClung’s athleticism and scoring may be enough to get him onto an NBA roster. However, without serious improvement in a lot of areas, McClung could very well struggle to find a role in the league.
