G League Winter Showcase Offers 'Large Opportunity' for Magic Affiliate Osceola

ORLANDO, Fla. – The NBA's annual answer to Major League Baseball's Winter Meetings is disguised as the NBA G League Winter Showcase.

The event comes just after the recently signed restriction comes off for multiple players, and with all 30 general managers in one place for four days, it helps to grease the wheel of possible trades among eventual buyers and sellers for the February deadline.

What can easily get lost in the potential of deals, however, is that the event is still centered around basketball. Starting Thursday, Orlando not only becomes a four-day stage for front offices to gauge the trade market but also serves as the hotbed of opportunity for hundreds of players seeking a call-up to become one of the 450 rostered NBA players.

With the most important sets of eyeballs all in one spot, it can be a career-changing weekend for anyone with a big enough showing over their two-game allotment.

"It's a test for everybody," two-way guard Mac McClung said of the Showcase. Because he's signed on a two-way contract with the Magic, he's ineligible to be signed by any other team. His teammates, however, are free to be signed by other teams if someone offers them a deal.

"You don't want to change your game or anything' you want to play the way you're supposed to," McClung continued. "But I've seen guys, my teammates last year, Brandon Williams, at the Showcase got called up. It's a great opportunity. He's been there for two years now. It's very valuable and I definitely am aware of that for everybody."

Before the Showcase last season, Williams averaged 22.4 points with Osceola while shooting 47.9 percent from the field and 37.6 percent from three. At the event, Williams then scored 26 points in game one and 25 points in game two for Osceola.

Shortly after, on December 28, Williams signed a two-way deal with the Dallas Mavericks. He now splits time between the parent club and its G League affiliate, the Texas Legends.

"As a two-way, I feel accountable for wins and losses even more and I feel accountable for putting guys in situations to be called up," McClung said. "You've got to win most of the time to get called up, so I definitely feel that pressure and us getting this new reset, I'm very motivated for that."