Jared McCain lit up Paycom Center with 18 points on a sizzling 7-11 shooting night, including 4-of-5 from deep, as the Oklahoma City Thunder cruised past the Lakers for a commanding 2-0 series lead. The former Sixers guard is quickly becoming a fan favorite in OKC, and back in Philly, regret is hitting hard.

McCain came off the bench hungry, logging a playoff career-high 17:44 minutes and dropping 5-of-7 in the second half with a perfect 3-3 from beyond the arc. His third-quarter buckets helped the Thunder keep their edge, and only fans in Philadelphia were left shaking their heads.

“Jared McCain was big time tonight,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “Shot making all over the floor. Barely played the first series, now he’s got huge minutes. Just speaks to his character and work ethic.”

Just three months after the Thunder stole him from Philly for a late first-rounder and some seconds, the 22-year-old is balling like a guy with something to prove. He’s now 7-of-9 from three in the series. The perfect role player for this OKC squad. After one-and-done at Duke, the 76ers selected McCain with the 16th pick in the 2024 draft. He was playing at a Rookie of the Year level last season before suffering a torn meniscus.

McCain averaged 10.4 points in 18 minutes per game post-trade. He shot 39% from 3-point range with the Thunder in the regular season. Before Game 2 against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 22-year-old was off to a 4-of-7 start in Game 1. Mark Daigneault trusted the young guard and gave him a playoff career-high 15 minutes. Tonight, he got more minutes, and only the disappointed were back in Philly. He was 7-11 from FG and shot an impressive 63.6% and also converted 4-5 from downtown.

As a rookie, McCain balled out for 15.3 points in 25.7 minutes a night, shooting 46% from the field and 38.3% from deep. He finished 7th in Rookie of the Year voting in just 23 games. Then this season, Philly suddenly lost faith in him.

Sam Presti pounced. The Thunder stole the 22-year-old for a 2026 first-rounder (No. 22 via Houston) and three second-round picks, basically pocket change. They locked in a young stud on a sub-$5 million AAV with RFA rights still intact until 2028.

That’s why when the deal happened, it was called a fleece and a robbery. But the onus is on the 76ers, who let go of a high-potential talent and are struggling in the postseason for the same caliber.

Fans question the Sixers as Jared McCain balls out

“Jared McCain has shot 9 threes in this series. He’s made 7 of them. The perfect role player. What was Philadelphia thinking?”

That hot shooting looks even uglier next to the Sixers’ brutal Conference Semifinals against the Knicks. Philly scraped by with just 12 fourth-quarter points in their Game 2 loss, going a dreadful 1-10 from three without Embiid. Easy to wonder what McCain’s confidence and stroke could’ve done for them.

The rest of the story hasn’t changed. Morey called it “selling high” at the time. Sixers fans are calling it a fleece, and they’re not mincing words. Meanwhile, McCain’s making Shai’s life easier on a stacked Thunder team that’s already up 2-0. Philly’s watching a young piece they gave away for pennies turn into a playoff spark.

After the trade, Morey confidently said, “I’m quite confident that we were selling high [trading McCain]. Obviously, only time will tell.” But the fans are calling him out over his misjudgment.

“Daryl Morey is a mor– and traded him to the Thunder of all teams to avoid the luxury tax. Morey should be fired.” Fascinatingly, when the Sixers acquired him as the 16th overall pick, it was Morey who hailed the Duke product as a “special talent”. And also labeled him as one of the top 10 players in the 2024 draft.

But things change quickly, and Jared McCain was shown the door. This season, he was behind Quentin Grimes and rookie VJ Edgecombe. And keeping the latter was the right move, but the former hasn’t turned up in the postseason. Grimes has averaged just 6.5 points in the playoffs this year, putting extra pressure on Maxey, which a fan pointed out.

“Worth adding, Tyrese Maxey had to play 47 minutes last night, led the NBA in mins per game across the regular season, and has played more playoff minutes than anyone in the league. The future draft picks in return have combined for 0.0 minutes and 0.0 points for this Sixers team.”

Clearly, the team’s future draft picks won’t help it now in the postseason, which led many netizens to air their frustration. Another fan simply credited the Thunder for giving Jared McCain an extended run despite their insane squad depth. “They said they didn’t have minutes for him. Look at Okcs roster way deeper than phillys and he still got see the floor.”

Another fan had no other option but to cry in the comment section. “Literally gave him away for a bag of chips to a super team.” The Thunder are 2-0 ahead, as Shai has just scored 18 and 22 points against the Lakers so far. But the emergence of Jared McCain means the current MVP can sometimes take a backseat. That’s exactly what Philly needed.