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Rodney McGruder has agreed to a three-year deal with the LA Clippers.
Per Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, the 6-foot-4 guard has agreed to a three-year, $15 million deal with the Doc River's coached squad.
Source: McGruder agrees to a three-year, $15 million deal. https://t.co/xcj7FAwenp
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 3, 2019
McGruder entered the NBA as an undrafted prospect in 2013. The Kansas State-product spent some time in the G League and even won the championship in 2016. That year, he was picked up by the Miami Heat and played for them for three seasons. Last year, in 66 games for the Heat, he averaged 7.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.7 assists across 23.5 minutes.
He was eventually waived by the Heat in April before the Clippers claimed his off waivers.
With the relatively hefty deal, Clippers fans were quick to ask: are the Kawhi Leonard talks officially over? Did they fail to lure in the two-time NBA Finals MVP? Keith Smith of Yahoo Sports and Bobby Marks of ESPN cleared everything up: the Clips still have enough space to offer Leonard a max deal.
To be very clear here, since everyone is asking:
Clippers projected cap space includes cap holds for both Rodney McGruder and Ivica Zubac.
LAC still has more than enough space to offer Kawhi Leonard a full max deal. Beverley, McGruder, etc will just delay signing if necessary.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) July 3, 2019
The Rodney McGruder deal with LAC (per @ChrisBHaynes ) has no impact on the ability to sign a player to a max contract. The McGruder $3M free agent hold was factored into the max slot that is available.
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) July 3, 2019
While the Clippers have agreed to deals with Beverley and McGruder, among others, it's not until July 6 that they can actually ink and seal the contract. As such, in the event that Leonard agrees to a deal, the Clippers would have to ask Beverley and McGruder to delay signing so they can make the proper adjustments.
