McLaughlin was a relative unknown when he signed a two-way contract with the Timberwolves at the start of the '19-'20 season. He went undrafted in 2018 and spent the '18-'19 season in the G-League. He eventually established himself as a rotation-level player, although his minutes per game decreased a little as the Wolves became deeper and more competitive. He wasn't in the regular rotation for the Kings in '24-'25, and barely played after getting traded to San Antonio as well. McLaughlin mostly play-makes for others, as his assist to usage rate has consistently been right near the top of the league, according to Cleaning the Glass. Overall, McLaughlin may not make a ton of plays or be the engine of an offense, but he makes quick reads, moves the ball well, and doesn't make a lot of mistakes. Having that steady presence as a backup point guard can be very valuable. Although he isn't a massive threat from outside because of the low volume of shots he takes from three, he has hit 37% from three and finished decently at the rim, which makes him pretty efficient overall. At 6'1", McLaughlin is undersized but competes on the defensive end. I wouldn't call him a liability. He also gets steals at a good rate. Already 29 years old as a free agent in 2025, McLaughlin may not have a ton of upside, but I think he could still be a decent bench guard. It is concerning that he essentially has fallen out of the rotation for multiple teams during the past couple seasons though, and his NBA career could be in jeopardy.

McLaughlin will be an unrestricted free agent with a $2.3 million cap hold and Non-Bird Rights. This means that the highest starting salary the Spurs could offer him using the Non-Bird Exception is $3.4 million. This should be enough to retain McLaughlin, since he settled for the minimum to come to San Antonio. Alternatively, the Spurs could use their Mid-Level Exception or Bi-Annual Exception to re-sign McLaughlin if he demands more than $3.7 million.  Other teams will have multiple ways to sign McLaughlin as even teams without cap space could possibly use the Non-Taxpayer MLE, Room MLE, Taxpayer MLE, or Bi-Annual Exception to sign him. It's also likely that McLaughlin only gets minimum offers again, and he may not even get fully-guaranteed offers.

Monte Morris (1 year minimum, 2024) Tyus Jones (1 year minimum, 2024) Reggie Jackson (1 year minimum, 2024)