The Philadelphia 76ers are not currently not reeling from it just yet, but they continue to draw a lot of flak for their decision to trade Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Now, the defending champs are slowly unleashing the young combo guard, which makes it all the more regretful –– at least in the short term –– that the front office maded such a ballsy decision before the deadline.
Mind you, McCain has already been a steady contributor for the Thunder. In eight games so far with OKC, the sophomore has averaged 11.6 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field, which includes a blazing 44.1 percent success rate from three-point territory. He has also seen an uptick minutes, which was something he simply did not have in Philly.
The Thunder have been trotting McCain out for 19 minutes a night, which is a considerable increase from the 16.8 minutes he registered for the 76ers on the average. While this might not hold up when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander makes his return, this still shows that Oklahoma City's coaching staff is making a deliberate effort to entrench him in their regular rotation.
The Thunder are giving Jared McCain what he failed to receive from the 76ers
Nick Nurse and the coaching staff did not err in easing McCain into action, but the truth of the matter is that they never really went past that stage. Even when McCain got into groove, he was never really rewarded with court time ample enough for him to showcase his skills and develop that chemistry with his teammates.
In fact, McCain was even relegated to the G-League a handful of times. His opportunities with the 76ers to regain his mojo were sparse. The fact that the coaches continued handing Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe exorbitant minutes on a nightly basis is a testament of their meager trust level on McCain.
Even if Daryl Morey gets vindicated later on for trading and selling high on McCain, it cannot be denied that the prospect of having him return to his old form and develop from thereon is a major opportunity cost they dangled away for the sake of cost-cutting and draft capital –– the function of which has not yet been realized due to their complete failure to pull off a follow-up move after shipping him away.
The 76ers are still in prime position to take advantage of what they received for Jared McCain, but for now, suffice to say that the Thunder are happy campers with the trade they made. And until further notice, Philly cannot really call itself a definitive beneficiary from that exchange.