The Oklahoma City Thunder's offseason has been a tale of departures.
Thankfully, they were able to hang onto Isaiah Hartenstein, who signed a three-year, $75 million extension to stay with the team. But with major luxury tax penalties looming with the extensions for Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren kicking in, they were forced to cycle in young talent in an effort to replenish their rotation.
Oklahoma City moved on from Luguentz Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe in separate trades this offseason. They'll hope their young backcourt pieces can replicate their production in 2026-27.
This makes the Jared McCain trade— in which Sam Presti swapped a first-round pick and three second-round selections for the young guard— a move of foresight on the Thunder's part. As inconsistent as Dort, Wiggins, and Joe could be at times, they represented the bulk of Oklahoma City's perimeter shooting off the bench.
McCain will need to take on that mantle this season. If he's able to do so, he might be a key to the Thunder's championship hopes.
Thunder have saddled Jared McCain with a heavy responsibility in 2026-27— and he needs to be up to the task
As well as McCain played with the Thunder over the end of the regular season and the playoffs, it's easy to forget that he was on the edge of the Philadelphia 76ers' rotation before the trade.
Across his 30 regular season appearances with Oklahoma City, he averaged 10.4 points and shot 39.1% from 3-point range on a diet of 18 minutes per game. Across his final 15 games with Philadelphia, he saw just 12.9 minutes per appearance and even received a string of DNPs in January.
But the Thunder clearly thought highly of him, and when Joe and Wiggins stopped producing, he was the next man up to provide an offensive burst for the team in the playoffs. He shot 37.1% from beyond the arc across 15 postseason appearances with Oklahoma City.
Wiggins and Joe are both replacable, and trading them was the right move in order to retain financial flexibility. But Joe led the team in 3-point percentage last season, and both Wiggins and Dort, historically, represented consistent floor-spacing options no matter where they were in the rotation.
Both Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell— who are the projected pieces to take Dort's spot in the starting five— have upside as perimeter shooters. But Mitchell shot 34.7% from beyond the arc in 2025-26. Wallace shot 35.1%.
The Thunder won a championship in 2025 without shooting the lights out as a team. But their offensive structure requires them to have consistent options they can kick out to on the perimeter, even if the team as a whole isn't a 3-point shooting machine like the Boston Celtics were in 2024. With Wiggins and Joe gone, McCain is now the Thunder's best perimeter shooting option off the bench.
He took rapid strides defensively last season, but now McCain will be tasked with taking on the role that Wiggins and Joe shared— and we'll need to see rapid improvements from him as an on-ball defender and as a consistent scorer for him to successfully meet that challenge.
It's a worthy gamble, and the Thunder have McCain under team control through 2027-28. But with their moves this offseason, they've hinged much of their bench production on a player that, before his trade to Oklahoma City, was regarded as a forgotten young guard.
He'll need to make the next leap this season to prove this confidence was well-placed. If he does, he could be the piece that helps keep the Thunder's offense afloat when it's most needed.
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