The Philadelphia 76ers had a vision when they made the decision to go against the grain and ship away a promising sophomore guard in Jared McCain, whom they dangled before the trade deadline to Oklahoma City. But with their follow-up plan not even being actualized, the only plausible verdict is they fumbled that deal big-time.
Sure, the 76ers got a respectable return package for McCain. But the prevailing sentiment is that the front office adjudged him too quickly as being incapable of returning to his pre-injury form. As Yahoo Sports' Kevin O'Connor pointed out in this post, the fact that Nick Nurse could not even figure out a consistent way to deploy him early in the season is pretty sus given how good he's looked with his new ball club.
It’s baffling how Nick Nurse couldn’t figure out a role for Jared McCain. He already looks just as good with OKC as he did pre-injury. He was in the dog house in Philly and now he’s playing crunch time minutes for the defending champs. Insane!
— Kevin O'Connor (@KevinOConnor) February 28, 2026
Through 10 games with the defending champs, McCain has turned in 11.8 points per game in under 20 minutes a night. He has converted on nearly 48 percent of his shots and 43 percent of his three-pointers, looking as fluid as he was last season when he was the favorite to win Rookie of the Year before a knee injury prematurely ended his freshman campaign.
The 76ers gave up too early on Jared McCain
The 76ers might never want to admit it, but part and parcel behind their conduciveness to trading McCain was the perceived redundancy in personnel. With Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe already being their firm starters, there was little chance for the sophomore to start again. And with Quentin Grimes around, his previous role as the nominal sixth man was also out of reach.
It did not have to be that way, though. In reality, Nurse and his staff simply did not optimize the roster well enough for McCain to be a consistent contributor. Sure, his rust was so smudged across the board that the reduced minutes felt justified, but the team totally deprived him of the opportunity to have a stable role.
McCain was the last option who logged menial minutes while the players above him in the depth chart were all over-exerted. In hindsight, the decision to push Maxey and Edgecombe's minutes to nearly 40 a night still evades reason, especially since they had McCain who has shown time and time again that he is better off getting a longer run to heat up, especially as he tries to regain his mojo after coming back from an almost calendar year-long absence.
With Jared McCain excelling in OKC thus far, even the most defensive 76ers fan will have a very difficult time arguing in favor of the team winning that trade. After all, the intendment for the move on the part of the front office remains unrealized, whereas the Thunder are now reveling in having him aboard.