From playing a key role in an NBL title on a Friday, to trying to figure out his next move that Monday.
Reflecting on a free agency experience that resulted in a high-profile move from 2021 champions Melbourne United to the Adelaide 36ers, Mitch McCarron says it was all “a bit weird”.
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McCarron had decided to put in-season contract talks with United on hold as he and his teammates hunted an elusive banner.
“To be completely honest, I told United that I didn’t want to talk about the future too much because we had a goal to achieve,” McCarron told News Corp.
“Let’s not think about anything else and not worry about what’s next, let’s just win.
“Guys had opportunities. I’m sure (star centre) Jock (Landale) had calls throughout the season, but he really locked in as well.”
Owing to a late finish to the Covid-impacted season, thexjmtzyw rush for clubs to compile their rosters began in earnest.
“Free agency was different to what I expected because, traditionally, you finish the season and you have a couple weeks off before it starts,” he said.
“You have time to breath out, debrief with the club. We won it and then, all of a sudden, in 48 hours, you’ve got to start to have conversations about what’s next for your future.”
With United working on the prized signature of NBA point guard Matthew Dellavedova, new dad McCarron had to go from celebrating to making life-shaping decisions.
Fortunately, the in-demand point guard found a new home in Adelaide, signing a three-year deal with the 36ers that provided greater opportunity on the court and stability and security off it for wife Abby and their nine-month-old son Oslo. They’ve found a rental near the beach — the housing market in Adelaide is booming, so they plan to wait to buy.
He stresses there is zero animosity at his former club — He cherishes his time in Melbourne and believes the outcome has been beneficial to both parties.
Named captain of the 36ers, McCarron has filled the void left by NBL Rookie of the Year Josh Giddey’s move to the NBA.
“I was excited about the opportunity presented at Adelaide,” he said.
“Josh Giddey was going on to the NBA and they needed a point guard to come in and try and build up again.
“They (United) found a great recruit in Matt Dellavedova, who is doing super well there, and I’m super happy to be in Adelaide.”
The 29-year-old’s former club is on an eight-game winning streak and he’s frustrated that his 36ers are among those — even if he admits it was “cool” to see the former teammates he now shares a lifelong championship bond with.
“I hadn’t seen the majority of them since I left Melbourne,” he said.
“I spent two-three years with the majority of them and hung with their families and their kids.
“You build these great relationships and suddenly you’re moving on to something else, so it was awesome just to check in with them about their families and life, even if we were disappointed with the loss.”
Building the Sixers
McCarron doesn’t want to call it a rebuild but, the reality is, his side returned only three players from last year’s roster, leaving a host of new faces — including new coach CJ Bruton — to teach and learn a system and build understanding.
It’s why Melbourne and Perth are so successful every year. There will always be roster changes, but they keep their cores together.
He wants that for Adelaide, but says it’s a dynamic that can’t be forced.
“Every club has to do it differently, there’s no way of just saying, ‘this is the prototype, this is how you do it, this is how you win’,” he said.
“Every group has to play a different style and build their own identity and chemistry on and off the court.
“That’s part of the challenge when you’re building with a relatively new roster and you’ve got a lot of guys new to the league.
“I have to adjust to a new role with new teammates and build that trust and chemistry that results in us winning, week in, week out.”
Spanner in the works
A frustrating barrier to cultivating the chemistry McCarron covets is the Covid climate.
Thriving teams play and train hard on the court and find friendship, counsel and entertainment with each other off it.
But strict Covid protocols have slowed that process.
“We’re certainly not in a unique position but it’s been very frustrating from the standpoint where you’ve got a new group — and we have a super social group who like spending time with each other — but we can’t do much right now,” he said.
“It’s pretty much just practice or play and go home but, hopefully, those rules get lifted once the situation improves and we can actually get out and about together more.”
‘Worst flu ever’
On the dreaded pandemic, McCarron contracted coronavirus in July 2020, a time when there was much fear of the unknown in the community.
“At that point, Australia wasn’t really in a high case mode, so people didn’t know anybody here who got it, you just heard about it in America or overseas,” he said.
“I had a lot of people reaching out, which was really nice, but a lot of them were like ‘man, are you OK?’. I was like ‘look I’m super sick, but I’m not dying, I’m going to be OK, it’s just like the worst flu that you’ve ever had’.
“It knocked me around for four or five days.”
He is grateful for the care afforded him by United’s support staff.
“The medical staff were super careful about returning to play protocols,” he said.
“They didn’t know what the effects were, so they gave us time to recover and we went and had tests on our heart.
A day after he spoke with News Corp, McCarron ended up in Covid protocols and missed the Sixers’ loss to Tasmania.
Had we jinxed him?
No, he tested negative, but was a close contact and had to be held out as a precaution.
He’s set to take on United on Sunday.
Bouncing back
McCarron is getting used to the added defensive attention of being a focal point of the Sixers’ offence but believes his team, at times, is its own worst enemy.
Notably, they crushed the then-ladder-leading Wildcats earlier this month, but followed that up with back-to-back losses to United and Illawarra.
“We do feel that our problems have been self-inflicted, whether it’s turnovers, our poor spacing, our poor executions, making bad defensive reads,” he said.
“That’s the other team’s goal, to put us in those situations where we are making those mistakes. At the same time, we feel like we haven’t been at our best and yet we’re still in the ball games with a lot of teams who are pinned to win the league.
“We want to get better every single week and try to give ourselves a chance at a playoff run and see what happens from there.”
ADELAIDE 36ERS 3-6 (9th) V MELBOURNE UNITED 8-2 (First)
