The Philadelphia 76ers drew –– and continue to draw –– major flak for their decision to trade Jared McCain shortly before the deadline in February. Trading him to an elite team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, the defending champs, was already frowned upon, but many felt also felt like the front office gave up too early on him for too little.
In all honesty, that is largely still the truth of the situation. However, one reality which many have glossed over is the fact that McCain is slowly starting to lose his place in OKC. With their team now healthy, the eccentric guard is beginning to fade away from their playoff rotation, which is pretty telling of how behind he is on their pecking order at the moment.
In their first-round series against Phoenix, McCain has not really sniffed the court that much. Through their first two outings, he totaled just eight minutes, all of which came in Game 1, which ended up being a 35-point beatdown. In Game 2, he saw the floor for just eight seconds. These sporadic minutes only confirm that he is not a priority in OKC for the time being.
The 76ers are slowly starting to get vindicated for trading Jared McCain
Philly got one first-round pick this year and three future second-round picks for McCain, and at that time, it felt like a flat return for the 76ers. That sentiment only got more credence when the sophomore guard started playing well for the Thunder, especially when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was sidelined due to an injury.
However, his minutes eventually dipped when the reigning Most Valuable Player and Ajay Mitchell, their nominal sixth man, made their respective returns. In his last 10 regular season games, he averaged just 14.8 minutes a night, and two of those outings were basically when the Thunder rested their key guys and McCain had to log heavy minutes.
There is simply not a lot of room for McCain to get minutes in OKC right now. Aside from SGA, the Thunder are not going to cut the minutes of Lu Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace, Ajay Mitchell, and Isaiah Joe. That makes it a steep escapade for McCain to register heavy minutes once again.
As such, the 76ers are slowly starting to get vindicated in their tough and highly divisive decision to part ways with their prized young gun. While the factor of him not getting as many minutes in OKC is not within their foresight, they already have a declining need for him anyway, and given how loaded this year's draft class is, they are bound to reap the rewards of the risk they took.
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