The Philadelphia 76ers definitely turned in one of the more surprising trades before the deadline when they resolved and decided to ship Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a package heavy on draft picks. After all, the sophomore guard easily looked like the best player in his draft class just a year ago before injuries ate him up. As a result, a lot of people roasted the franchise for giving up so early on the young guard.
Daryl Morey is of the belief that the 76ers sold high on McCain, and while a lot of people disagree, could there be perhaps room for the argument that they are really high on this upcoming draft class for all the right reasons? After all, they did receive a first-rounder pick for this year from the Thunder (via the Rockets) — one that has a more sterling value to it than people would like to admit.
Houston currently has the seventh-best record in the NBA, so there is a good chance that their pick ends up landing in the high 20s. Still, a good number of fans and pundits think that is still not enough to warrant trading McCain, but the sheer talent of this year’s expected draft class should make them re-think their haphazard evaluations.
The 76ers definitely got a great return for Jared McCain
As NBA insider Jake Fischer pointed out, this year’s 25th pick is equal to top-15 in most other years. And as everyone knows, that is a range where the 76ers are comfortable at. To make the deal even sweeter, the 2026 draft class is teeming with talented prospects that the front office will not even have to make a gamble with their pick from the Rockets.
No matter what people say about the 76ers, it is hard to argue against the team getting better value for McCain. Sure, he is definitely talented enough to be a staple on the roster, but the initial returns from his post-injury slate have not been good at the slightest. With Philly having VJ Edgecombe to man his prior spot, there was a good and growing reason for them to part with the eccentric guard.
Time will tell whether the 76ers made the right choice, but it is simply disingenuous to not give them credit for extracting a good package for the struggling sophomore. Hopefully, the front office can show everyone why they were playing chess and not checkers with this rather unpopular trade.