How Jared McCain Has Been Able To ‘Hop on a Moving Train’ for OKC Thunder

A month ago, Sam Presti pulled the trigger on an equally Impressive and puzzling NBA Trade Deadline move. Presti sent out a first-round pick and a handful of second-round selections to net back Jared McCain from the Philadelphia 76ers, just a season removed from the 76ers making McCain the No. 16 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

The Duke product shone in his rookie season, even being considered the leader in the clubhouse for the Rookie of the Year award prior to his season-ending knee injury. McCain got off to a rocky start as a sophomore, coming back from his torn lateral meniscus in his left knee and a thumb procedure in the offseason.

Philadelphia, whose playoff status is teetering, opted to dodge the tax at the deadline rather than improve the team around Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and rookie VJ Edgecomb. While choosing the tax break isn't new for the 76ers, it was still shocking to see them use McCain as the cost saving manuver.

76ers General Manager Daryl Morey took the decision a step further by saying the City of Brotherly Love Ballers "sold high," on the 22-year-old sharpshooter.

Presti was quick to strike, pulling off an impressive swap to improve his team's defense of its title. All it cost Oklahoma City was a 2026 first-round pick (via Houston), which projects to land at the No. 24 pick as of today, shipping out former lottery pick Ousmane Dieng in a separate move and scrounging up second-round picks found in the Thunder's couch cushions.

However, this move wasn't just to improve the Thunder's 15th man slot that Dieng once held, but also for the future. Getting a productive, high-end role player on a cost-controlled rookie-scale deal who has upside capable of being even more than he has already shown in his short NBA career is highway robbery. If David Stern were controlling the 76ers, the deal would've been nixed. Sadly for Morey, he couldn't be saved from himself.

No one quite understood how to envision McCain on this Thunder roster attempting to be the first team since the 2018 Golden State Warriors to win back-to-back championships. Though already the former first-round pick is making an impact under unique circumstances for the Bricktown Ballers.

In a 15-game sample size with Oklahoma City, McCain is averaging 11.2 points, a career high 2.5 rebounds and an assist per game while shooting 46 percent from the floor and a career best 42 percent from 3-point land.

McCain has already posted nine games with double-digit points and has even played valuable clutch time during wins, such as in an overtime thriller against the Denver Nuggets, where the Duke product turned in 14 points, hauled in two rebounds, an assist and a steal while shooting 6-for-8 from the floor and 2-for-3 from distance, each massive turning points in the contest.

“He has done a great job so far, hopping on a moving train. This is a team that has had success together, we have a lot of continuity. He is coming into that, cold. It is really hard to come in and thread the needle of functionality and confidence the way that he has, I think. A lot of people would be deferential cause of the level of the team and the continuity and a lot of people might be overconfident trying to prove themselves too quickly. He has just been quietly confident. He has played inside the team, he has played inside of his game. But he goes and makes plays obviously,” Head Coach Mark Daigneault said of McCain.

As a spot-up shooter, McCain is shooting 42.9 percent from the floor, coming off hand-offs, the second-year guard is producing an elite 1.286 points per possession, and most impressively, on guarded catch-and-shoot looks, the newly acquired guard is shooting 48.1 percent from the floor with the Thunder.

“Huge man, he has been huge for us. He has come in and fit in right away. Personality-wise and his game kinda fits how we play. What I have noticed is, he doesn’t shy away in those moments…We are happy to have Jared [McCain] on the team,” veteran forward Kenrich Williams told Thunder on SI in the Thunder's locker room.

Things have happened fast for McCain in Oklahoma City. From being unexpectedly traded and letting the public know what a jarring experience that was, filled with a lot of emotions. Then getting to Bricktown and playing in a game for the Thunder two days later, it has been a whirlwind.

The Thunder have deployed McCain in every game since the trade became official and have seen him log 10-plus minutes in all 15 contests. 11 such games have seen the Duke product register 15-plus minutes.

“It’s been a fast process. Everything still is happening pretty fast. I think the main thing is just being present with it. You know, being able to take whatever coach is giving me, whatever teammates are talking to me about and being able to internalize it and put it out there on the court,” McCain explained. “It’s all stuff I’ve done since I was a kid. You always have to remember that it is a kid’s game and that it’s the same stuff since I was a kid. Just different concepts and different details. I think it is fun just getting to know stuff on a fast pace.”

With the OKC Thunder, McCain has posted 55 percent from the mid-range and a jaw-dropping 45 percent on non-corner triples. He has fit this system like a glove. From his constant relocation, ability to curl off screens, operate in the pick-and-roll, get into the mid-range to rise up over defenses, and play off the Thunder's playmaking big men on dribble hand-offs, all make him a valuable and viable player for this Oklahoma City squad, including when the postseason rolls around.

His shot-making takes pressure off of the Thunder's top scoring options, spreading defenses thin with how much shooting gravity McCain possesses and disenfranchising opposing teams' ability to send help onto Superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, making them play in traffic. Straying too far from the sharpshooter will typically turn into an automatic three-pointer for the Thunder.

Under these unique circumstances, the Thunder have tried to make things as comfortable as possible on McCain. Though the 22-year-old enjoys the challenge of learning on the fly.

“It is pretty much the new verbiage. A lot of it is the same concepts. Especially, I think for here we keep the same principles. I really like that how you can just kinda focus on what you need to do and it kinda carries over to each game instead of like a switching up of each game of different personnel," McCain detailed.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have found pairings that have vastly improved this team since nabbing McCain at the deadline. When he is put alongside fellow sharpshooter Isaiah Joe, the Thunder are producing 116.8 points per 100 possessions with a +19 differential ranking in the 99th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. In just 47 possessions next to fellow second-year guard Ajay Mitchell, the backcourt duo is posting 147.6 points per 100 possessions.

For a team that won a title last year, one of the Thunder's lone flaws was at times their half-court offense and distance shooting in the postseason. McCain can help bolster both areas and improve Oklahoma City's already bright outlook.