Jared McCain reaches new heights with Thunder that 76ers fans will not like originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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Regrets usually roll around whenever the more tense parts of the NBA Playoffs commence. Players who were previously unused and got traded to contender are now doing insanely well. Jared McCain is a prime example of this. He is now reaching insane numbers and just helped the Oklahoma City Thunder take the 2-1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. One statistic even points out that some Philadelphia 76ers fans should not have agreed to trading him away.
McCain reaches insane heights with Thunder and proves 76ers lost trade
Jared McCain has now totaled 43 points throughout the Western Conference Finals between the Thunder and the Spurs. It was his Game 3 performance, where he dropped 24 points while going 47.6% from the field, that propelled those scoring numbers to new heights. When all of the numbers are crunched, he has now scored more points in the Conference Finals than any of the last six 76ers lottery picks combined, per StatMuse.
The list of players that McCain soared higher than at this point includes VJ Edgecombe in 2025, Mikal Bridges in 2018, Markelle Fultz in 2017, Ben Simmons in 2016, Jahlil Okafor in 2015, and Joel Embiid in 2014. Bridges can still equal or usurp the 76ers’ young gun because he is also playing in the Conference Finals for the New York Knicks.
Even then, the 76ers have not gotten over the hump with these past players. McCain was probably their biggest shot at having a playoff riser in a long time before they traded him.
In Game 3 against the Spurs, McCain also had a real shots at being the leading scorer for both sides. Despite falling short, his 24-point performance still saw him knock down 10 of his 21 shots from the field. This was more than both of this season’s NBA MVP frontrunners in this series. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander only knocked down six field goal attempts while Victor Wembanyama just managed to see eight of his field goals find the bottom of the net.
McCain has clearly found a home in the Thunder system and is on his way to win a Larry O’Brien trophy. He has the 76ers organization and some of their fans to thank for trading him away.