National Basketball Association

Washington Wizards' Sheldon McClellan Has Real Chance to Make Team, According to Scott Brooks

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Washington Wizards rookie Sheldon McClellan went undrafted, but seems to have a legitimate chance to make the final roster, according to Scott Brooks.

The Washington Wizards entered training camp with 13 of the 15 available roster spots filled. Jarell Eddie, who played on the team last year, agreed to join the Wizards on a non-guaranteed deal and was seemingly a lock to make the final roster.

Now, it looks like Eddie is going to have more competition.

Washington, like every other team in the NBA, likes to keep one open roster spot for flexibility. If a player gets waived or a trade becomes available, teams want to have a spot open for a future addition.

With that said, the Wizards essentially have one spot open and numerous players – Eddie, Sheldon McClellan, Danuel House, Johnny O’Bryant, Daniel Ochefu and Casper Ware – fighting to latch on and stick with the team.

Out of all the mentioned players, besides Eddie, House seemed to have the most realistic shot at making the roster.

The undrafted rookie impressed the Wizards enough during summer league to earn a partially guaranteed contract for training camp.

Currently, the Washington Wizards only have two small-forwards on the roster, Otto Porter and Kelly Oubre, which would theoretically improve House’s chances of making the team.

However, McClellan has suddenly emerged as a legitimate candidate to make the team.

According to Scott Brooks, the shooting-guard has a real shot to stick in D.C.

Despite his underwhelming individual performance in summer league, McClellan still got a partially guaranteed contract, just like House.

He averaged over 16 points per game with the Miami Hurricanes during his senior year and shot an impressive 50.4 percent from the field.

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Washington inked McClellan to a partially guaranteed deal shortly after the NBA Draft was over.

Many pundits believed that Ernie Grunfeld had found a potential steal, given his production in college.

The Wizards don’t have much depth in the backcourt, either.

Bradley Beal doesn’t have a clear backup.

Marcus Thornton, who battled injury during training camp, is the projected backup.

Tomas Satoransky has also recently said that he would like to play both guard positions, but he is more of a ball handling guard than a shooter.

McClellan, for what it’s worth, checked into the Washington Wizards’ preseason game before Oubre, Eddie and House.

At 6-foot-5, he has the height and wingspan of a prototypical shooting guard and can obviously score the ball at a high rate. More importantly, McClellan is just 23-years-old and would give the Wizards another developing guard off the bench.

If the Wizards had a D-League team, then McClellan would almost certainly make the roster. To my surprise, he’s quietly emerged as a legitimate candidate to make the team.

As preseason continues, Washington will begin to make cuts. For now, McClellan might have the edge against the other players competing for a spot.

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