Robert McCray V Scouting Report
The NBA's glaring need for playmaking guards makes McCray V's case a legitimate one. He's one of the best passers and playmaker among this senior group, and here's why he has a chance to succeed:
#6 Robert McCray V, Florida State: Senior, 6’4”
Point Guard — Born: Sep 26, 2002 (23 years old)
Introduction
With back-to-back All A-Sun seasons at Jacksonville, Robert McCray V transferred up to Florida State. With his last three seasons leading to 18, 16 and 16 points per game, his production has never been the question. The seamless adjustment from the mid-major level to the ACC was another positive part of his collegiate career.
The years of experience combined with the track record of him proving his worth for three years in a row led to him being invited to Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. He didn’t have the best performance there, but the sample size at Florida State gives me more than enough feasibility to come to the conclusion that he has a chance to be a rotational guard in the NBA. This scouting report emphasizes his role, long-term potential and why he will succeed at the next level.
Physical Profile
At 6-foot-4 in shoes, McCray V has good positional size to be a full-time one while he can play some minutes at the two as well. He has a strong upper body with decently broad shoulders at 190 pounds. The hips and fluidity are decent. Overall, McCray V is a good athlete who shifts from speed to more craft, control and finesse. He absorbs contact well despite not having the best footwork.
Overall, the length is an issue, with a confirmed wingspan at 6-foot-5. That puts more weight on his toughness on defense. Regardless, he’s grown into his body well and the physical tools bring more readiness in terms of the NBA than I initially anticipated. Despite the length being an issue, McCray V compensates with a good motor and quick hands.
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Defense
Pick-and-roll
His defense in the pick-and-roll is the vital part of his evaluation. Teams often decide how many minutes they can give determining on how much rookies can keep the defensive rating at par. In McCray V’s case, his screen navigation has been the area of attention. He’s tough, but not in every possession. Playing with more intensity rather than in control should be the main emphasis. The first play shows him not allowing the roll, forcing the ball handler to make a decision with not many good angles to pass out of. Despite being a tad too late contesting the shot, that was a good play on his end.
McCray V picks up the ball handler at center court and loses the reach in which puts pressure on the defense to rotate early. McCray V looked passive, both in the speed of his rotation and the lack of a good defensive box-out despite getting the rebound. He played too much in control at PIT. The third play has him run into the screen like the offense intended to, instead of dropping to dodge the screen as the ball handler had no intention to shoot the long two. The decision-making there had to be better.
The fourth play has him again running into the screen, forcing the switch with another lack of box-out as a result. The positioning is another area to work on. McCray V has the lateral pace to make up for long distances from the rim but he plays too much in control there. Leaving the perimeter so far to run into the screen is a recipe for a team’s defensive rating collapsing because NBA teams will continue to lure him out of the interior in ball screen actions. At 2.7 personal fouls per game, it’s clear why McCray plays too much in control at times. The motor is not an issue, but the combination of picking up bad fouls leads to him having to take the foot off the gas pedal. The motor is not an issue, it’s more an area of attention for him to avoid fouling.
Closeouts
The lack of composure is telling in McCray’s closeouts. That’s the main area to improve. The lack of consistent movement has him being more of a impulsive defender than someone who’s focusing on his positioning and closing angles. That’s been the issue in his profile. The first play has him showing a decent last step, while closing the driving lane correctly. The quick tag continued to keep the ball handler away from the paint, forcing the midrange jumper with McCray V decently contesting the shot.
The second play has McCray V on the weak side, focusing on limiting angles in the middle whereafter he picked up the deflected pass. But that’s not the feasible part of his defense. He’s too much impulsive with quick bites on fakes. The third play has him bite terribly on the fake while the ball handler didn’t have his feet set for that jumper. Even if the shot is taken, McCray has the vertical pop to contest the shot. The lack of McCray V recognizing the opponent’s feet to determine what decision will be made is what immediately stood out. As a result the defense collapsed with a and-one as the outcome.
The positioning issues remain the problem in the fourth possession, there’s no reason to commit so far to a stand-still ball handler that far from the interior. This led to the easy interior pass where McCray V was in the scorer’s back while he didn’t focus on getting the defensive rebound either. The 11.4 rebounding rate is below average, and these examples show why that’s the case in McCray V’s profile.
The path to improving is by making better decisions. The last play below shows the perfect example. Decent footwork while he’s sliding his feet well and limiting the scoring angle. Him biting on the pump-fake is the result of the impulsive decision-making instead of staying composed, calm and forcing the scorer’s to beat him rather than bailing scorers out. Overall, that’s putting pressure on a team’s defensive rating and will lead to teams not being able to use him for longer stretches of minutes.
Cuts and defending away from the ball
McCray V is a reactive defender away from the ball. He’s too much focused on ball handlers and is in a constant rush when he’s looking around him. The lack of composure is telling and it’s not leading to him making the best decisions to play and close angles that cutters around him are trying to find. The first play is a good example where he has his face toward the screener, while already knowing he’s there, losing eye on the ball handler. Quick and crafty NBA scorers would have already attacked the rim once they saw that. The second play has him watch the ball a bit too long, as the lack of motion around him was the luck factor. In the NBA, there would be constant movement. Regardless of McCray V picking up the deflection for the steal, every NBA cutter would have immediately backdoored him once seeing he didn’t have his eyes on him anymore.
The third play sums up everything. After a few switches, McCray V finds himself as the weak side rim protector against a bigger assignment. He’s helping once the rim pressure occurs, and it’s going to be a bounce pass to the finisher in 99% of the occassions. He still jumps up while taking the gamble of someone else filling in the lane. The lack of composure is everything here. The fourth play has McCray V move his feet to the three-point line and that’s where he lost the cutter. The forced rotation had the scorer use a curl to get the lane in the middle, while McCray V was late in the rotation. It happends, he was quick in trying to compensate, but the common denominator in all plays, and most of his defense is a big lack of composure. That’s the main area of development for him if he wants to stay on the floor.
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Offense
Catch-and-shoot
At 35.5% on 4.2 attempts per game, McCray V shows good returns as a shooter off the catch. Considering he’ll have a fair share of off-ball duties as well, that jumper has to be consistent for him to support a team’s offensive rating without demanding too many ball touches. The process is fluid and the volume is sustainable for the NBA. Considering teams want to maximize their number of threes to utilize their floor-spacing, McCray V will deliver his part to sustain that level of three-point shooting in the NBA.
Despite the high-arcing release, McCray V has to work on setting his feet better before he goes for his jumper. The first three plays show examples of him shooting without much balance. The process is good, but the preparation needs some work. Overall, while I’m focusing on his misses, the range is legitimate and he’s more than ready for the NBA three-point line. The fourth possession has him move well to stay above the break and immediately hit the defender with his high-arcing release. Because the wingspan is only +1 inch, that high release point is a must to have his jumper translate to the NBA.
Pick-and-roll ball handling
Of course, self-creation out of ball screens with the ball in his hands is an important part of this evaluation. It won’t be much different in how McCray V will score out of closeouts, but the point guard role will mostly have him run pick-and-roll and create advantages for himself and others. He’s good at recognizing angles, where the first play has him snake between two defenders to get both feet in the paint. However, while the defender covered the left side of the rim, McCray V had to finish with his right hand there, while he chose his comfortable hand and saw his layup get blocked at the rim.
At 55.0 on 191 rim attempts excluding dunks, the touch around the basket shows below-average returns, with the aforementioned being the main reason. As a paint touch generator, finishing with both hands equally is a must-have for his scoring arsenal. The second play shows him utilize space very well to focus on his spin-move. The finish was a tad too late, as he had to release right after the spin. Wasted movement led to the miss on that end. The earlier-mentioned lack of composure is telling in the third and fourth play. He’s rushing things and skipping steps, often leading to him dribbling into tight pockets, with the block at the fourth play and the hail mary pass out of the unforced double being serious areas of attention for the next level.
The creativity is undeniable, but McCray V is losing some of his value with his lack of composure. His performance at Portsmouth Invitational had him mostly forcing playing under control, which didn’t benefit him, unfortunately.
Passing, ball-moving, and playmaking
The playmaking is purely next level. McCray V is a fantastic creator for others, and the numbers show that at 6.1 assists per game, with the 3.6 lost possessions being mostly live-ball turnovers because of the lack of composure. But that doesn’t take anything away from his natural feel and high fundamentals as a playmaker and advantage creator for his teammates.
The first play has him utilize the three-and-two to perfection by drawing both defenders’ attention in the paint before the slick side pass to the dunker in the middle. McCray V is calm in the half court, as he didn’t want a screen to keep the defender’s focus on him during the play, before seeing the above-the-break shooter come off the curl with his timely pass resulting in a three. The fourth play has him again snake the pick-and-roll to completely collapse the defender, force the help to commit before the slick pass to the weak-side dunker.
His passing is so crisp that he’s finding open shooters in extremely tight pockets. Combined with his skillset to keep the defenders committing to stopping him is purely next level. The fifth play has him enter the interior, demand attention before the bullet pass to the corner. Many guards would have passed the ball much earlier, but McCray V shows high feel by collapsing the defense, make them commit and then execute his playmaking read. The playmaking will definitely translate to the NBA where he’ll be much more comfortable playing in a higher tempo.
NBA Draft Projection
The lack of composure was disappointing, and honestly not what I expected before starting my film study. Regardless, the talent and complete guard skillset plus leading a team’s offense is undeniable. He’s fitting the need of many teams who still look for a playmaking guard. Therefore, he’ll have options after the NBA Draft, where I expect him to eventually be undrafted.
However, he’s going to picked up on a two-way contract quickly after the second night of the draft. With his years of experience and proven track record at Jacksonville alongside a stellar season with Florida State in the ACC puts him above most of his senior guard peers. Any playoff team should focus to add him to their rotation. And regarding the lack of composure, that will take care of itself in the next few years. McCray V is dedicated to continious improvement and will absolutely crush it during team workouts.
At over 350 (!) articles in 3.5 years, Ersin’s NBA Draft Newsletter is your go-to for draft content. Make sure you subscribe at $6 per month/$60 per year for much more!