With every passing day, it becomes more and more evident that the OKC Thunder managed to pull off the ultimate buy-low move at the 2026 NBA trade deadline by acquiring Jared McCain from the Philadelphia 76ers.
From his sensational spark-plug scoring skills off the pine to his surprising effect on Isaiah Joe, the sophomore has been nothing but spectacular since beginning his Sooner State journey one month ago.
However, among the many reasons why the Sixers may be feeling a bit of remorse following the transaction, The Ringer's Chris Ryan believes it's his revived shooting stroke positioned alongside an already loaded Thunder rotation that takes the cake.
Jared McCain shooting at rate with Thunder he failed to with 76ers
During a recent appearance on The Zach Lowe Show, Ryan stated that it's "pretty frustrating" to see McCain now all of a sudden knocking down buckets at an effective rate in high-stakes games with the Thunder, a role he failed to fill during the half-season stint of his sophomore go-around with the Sixers.
"Him hitting big threes in big moments with Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] right next to him is pretty galling... It has been pretty stomach-turning to watch," Ryan said.
During the 37 games he spent with Philadelphia here in 2025-26, McCain found himself posting averages of just 6.6 points on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor and 37.8 percent shooting from deep.
Since joining the Thunder, the 22-year-old has seen a boost in virtually all areas of play, but especially in the shooting/ scoring department, where he's been dropping 11.9 points on 47.2 percent shooting from the floor and 41.1 percent shooting from distance.
Through these first 12 games of action, Oklahoma City has gone an impressive 9-3, the third-best mark in the league during this span.
Though Ryan acknowledged that Philly's draw behind parting ways with McCain was presumably to land draft equity (something they certainly attained in the likes of four total picks from OKC) to then dangle in front of the LA Clippers in some sort of Kawhi Leonard pursuit, to him, this doesn't make the second-year pro fleshing out the reigning champ's rotation any easier to see.
While there are still some questions about whether he'll be "a big part" of Oklahoma City's rotation come playoff time, clearly, during the road leading up to it, he'll be a regular staple within coach Mark Daigneault's on-court scheme.
As NBA.com's Shaun Powell put it in a recent post-deadline assessment piece, the McCain trade witnessed the "rich getting richer" and "the deep got deeper" in the Thunder.
For OKC, this is truly a dream scenario. For 29 other teams in the league, it's shaking up to be an absolute nightmare.