The Philadelphia 76ers drew a lot of flak for making the bold decision to trade Jared McCain before the deadline. Most people thought it was a short-sighted move in the part of Daryl Morey and his crew, as the sophomore guard was just returning from a couple of major injuries that nearly sidelined him for an entire calendar year.
OKC took a swing by paying a significant price for McCain, a move widely lauded for the defending champs. Now, the Thunder are reveling in the deal they pulled off with McCain finally starting to look like himself, while the 76ers remain in a state of limbo as the draft capital they got in return for him have not yet been utilized at this juncture.
Meanwhile, the 76ers are getting sapped of their firepower. With Joel Embiid and Paul George out, they are once again back to struggling to rack up wins. Even worse, the front office completely failed to make an impressive follow-up move after parting with their prized sophomore.
The 76ers are losing the Jared McCain trade for now
By Morey's admission, the 76ers executed that deal in anticipation of another major trade before the deadline. Obviously, that did not materialize. And until that to-be trade actually comes to fruition, it would be highly disingenuous to even say that the team won that exchange.
Through his first four games for the Thunder, McCain has averaged nearly 11 points in just 19 minutes per outing. His shooting has been highly impressive thus far, and he looks way more comfortable operating in OKC's more structured offense, admirably filling in for the injured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The 76ers could very well end up winning the trade, but they can really only do so indirectly. Given how talented McCain is, the team will have to acquire a better player in the eventual deal they make using those draft picks they scooped up from the Thunder's brain trust.
Now, the team has more than enough to eventually make up for what they are missing thanks to McCain, but from a strictly parallel viewpoint, they have yet to erect an argument as to why they should be deemed the winning party in deadling the young combo guard.
But hopefully, the regretful sentiments about the Jared McCain trade, if any, become constrained to this season alone. Otherwise, that would mean that the 76ers did not do anything to improve the roster or their guards completely stagnated, which is unlikely.