OKC Thunder point guard Ajay Mitchell is no stranger to making an impact off the bench. Since bursting onto the scene as the team's primary substitute in 2025-26, he has provided a spark every time his name is called.
After finishing fifth in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season, Mitchell has his sights set on taking the crown this year. Everything looks set up for him to make a run, and he has some of the shortest odds to secure the honor. However, not only is his competition growing stiffer as of late, but one of his main competitors might be on his own team.
Sharpshooter Jared McCain hopped on the OKC train midway through last season and played well, but he looks primed to take a leap this year. He proved as much in the Thunder's first game, when he scored 20 points on a blistering 6-of-8 from behind the three-point line.
OKC was plus-20 when McCain was on the floor, easily the highest out of any Thunder player. Mitchell had the second-highest total at plus-12.
Jared McCain outplayed Ajay Mitchell outright for Thunder in Game 1
Though Mitchell did nothing to hinder his chances at winning Sixth Man of the Year, he failed to get out from under McCain's shadow for much of the night. The former Blue Devil couldn't miss, serving as a cheat code when running around the perimeter.
Mitchell finished with a respectable five rebounds and six assists (a team high), but he made just two of his eight shots and scored four points. He also had a defensive field goal percentage of 50.0 when contesting shots, which was a far cry from his 2025-26 average of 44.0 percent.
Even if he had found his stroke, though, there was likely nothing he could've done to outplay his backcourt running mate, as it was the Jared McCain show from start to finish.
Jared McCain unlikely to bow out of 6MOY race any time soon
McCain's night was not just a flash in the pan either. The writing has been on the wall for some time. From averaging just 5.3 minutes in the Thunder's first playoff series last year, to playing 25.4 minutes a night against the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals, McCain has risen in the ranks of Mark Daingeault's trusted role players, and he has begun to cement himself at the top.
Mitchell is still one of the favorites to win the award, but McCain is not far behind. That being said, if both remain in the running all season, it can only mean good things for the Thunder as a whole.
Thunder fans will get the luxury of watching one of, if not the most talented second unit in the league, run wild on a nightly basis, and Jared McCain should remain a focal point of the team's perimeter shooting attack.
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