Less than 48 hours after the shocking trade that sent Jared McCain from the 76ers to the OKC Thunder, Philly president Daryl Morey found himself taking subtle shots at his now departed sophomore guard.
During a Friday morning, post-trade deadline press conference, the former NBA Executive of the Year made a rather bold statement regarding his surprise decision to part ways with the 2024 first-round pick, saying that he's "quite confident that we were selling high" on his services.
Now, considering his drop-off in production from last season to this one, where, through 37 games played, he's posting mere averages of 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists on 38.5 percent shooting from the floor and has served stints down in the G League, it's hard to argue that McCain's play has been consistently inspiring here in 2025-26.
With this, some may find that the Sixers landing an upcoming first-round pick and three second-rounders could, in fact, warrant the label of solid return value.
However, when taking into account his pre-injury form, his still enviably young age of 21, and the level he had been playing at in the games leading up to his exit from Philadelphia, it's certainly difficult to say this was anywhere close to a sell-high package Morey netted himself.
If anything, it's more of a brilliantly executed, buy-low move by Sam Presti and the Thunder.
Jared McCain trade more of a buy-low move for Thunder
Let's get the facts straight here -- yes, the Thunder did ship four total picks out to the 76ers in this exchange, but the first round rights are in this year's draft and are coming from the Houston Rockets who, with a record of 31-19, are all but guarenteed to fall somewhere in the mid to late 20s on the draft board.
Along with this are three future seconds.
In exchange for a player who's not two years removed from being selected 16 overall and was the clear favorite to win Rookie of the Year before tearing his left meniscus (finished with averages of 15.3 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds on 46.0 percent shooting from the floor and 38.3 percent shooting from deep in 23 games), this is an easy low-risk, high-reward trade to make if you're OKC.
What should make the Thunder even more encouraged about McCain getting back to pre-injury form and efficiency is his production during the six games right before the deal, when he posted 9.2 points and 2.3 assists while shooting a ridiculous 55.6 percent from the floor and 57.7 percent from deep.
Though Morey, like everyone, for that matter, is certainly entitled to his opinion, and perhaps there's something long-lasting about the youngster's injury that hasn't been revealed to the public, based on the evidence at hand, it's difficult to see the logic behind how anyone could see this as a sell-high transaction for the 76ers.