Will OKC Thunder Need Jared McCain to Change Shot Diet?

The young guard is stepping into the lone sharpshooting role, and he may need to switch up his offense a bit.

May 20, 2026; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Jared McCain (3) shoots during the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs during game two of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Brett Rojo-Imagn Images | Brett Rojo-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City is making moves with next season in mind, and it may need to encourage an internal change as well.

Over the past week and change, the Thunder have made some key moves to help shape the roster for next season. With Aaron Wiggins and Isaiah Joe on their way out, and rookies Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz on the way in, the Thunder have made it clear how some things will look next season.

Perhaps the clearest takeaway thus far is that Oklahoma City will be relying on Jared McCain to take over the sharpshooting duties that had belonged to Joe for the past few years. After being acquired at the trade deadline, McCain quickly became an important piece of the Thunder lineup.

While his role wasn’t always clear toward the end of the regular season, Oklahoma City’s injuries helped lead to a McCain breakout in the playoffs. With Mark Daigneault putting his full trust in McCain throughout the postseason, including multiple starts in the conference finals, the Thunder had enough evidence that he could be the team’s lone sharpshooter for next season.

While McCain’s 38.5% career mark from beyond the arc shows that he can be a consistent difference-maker from deep range, he may need to switch up his shot diet to fit the role Joe had perfected. Averaging 4.6 3-point attempts per game, McCain ranked third on the Thunder behind Joe and Lu Dort.

Considering Oklahoma City’s lack of creators throughout much of McCain’s time with the Thunder thus far, he’s needed to be relied on to create for himself much more than he would with a healthy roster. While that partially accounts for McCain taking 55.4% of his shots from beyond the arc after arriving in the regular season and 51.5% in the playoffs, the Thunder may need that number to increase significantly.

For reference, that 51.5% rate of 3-point attempts ranked only seventh among Thunder players in the postseason. Joe, who McCain is anticipated to replace as the sharpshooter next season, had 3-point attempt rates of 78.8% in the regular season and 83.6% in the playoffs.

It might not make sense to expect McCain to go from taking just over half of his shots from deep to Joe’s rate of taking over three-quarters of his shots from that range next season. McCain’s mid-range game is still valuable, but the Thunder will need him to mirror some of the 3-point volume that Joe provided, especially if mid-range maestros in Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell are able to stay healthy throughout the year.

Having McCain’s three-level scoring can be a luxury, especially in the postseason, but getting him to emulate some of the off-ball 3-point volume that Joe contributed could be key to Oklahoma City’s success.