When the OKC Thunder acquired Jared McCain from the Sixers ahead of the 2026 NBA trade deadline, the belief was that Sam Presti and company were buying low on a young, promising bucket getter.
Little did they know, however, that they were also bringing on one of the league's more ferocious fisticuff talents.
Following last Friday's scuffle between Oklahoma City and the Denver Nuggets, former forward-turned-analyst Chandler Parsons revealed on an episode of Run it Back that, despite what his happy-go-lucky TikTok persona may suggest, McCain is actually known as being capable of throwing hands at a James Johnson-esque level.
"You know that James Johnson's like a fighter and trained? I heard Jared McCain is almost that same level... I heard he's not the one to mess with... Someone told me that and I was like 'no way,' and he's like '1000-percent true. That dude can fight,'" Parsons said.
Jared McCain unexpectedly gives Thunder added layer of toughness
Now, of course, no one in their right mind should be advocating for any in-game violence. This season alone, the league has already seen far too many fights.
If someone's looking for this kind of action, the MMA is your best bet.
Having said that, there's actually a case to be made that rostering someone who has a reputation for their ability to throw down is actually a good thing -- that is, so long as they don't use it.
Players of such ilk change the way opposing clubs match up against you. From the aforementioned James Johnson to Pistons' big man Isaiah Stewart, there's a long list of individuals in the association whom players objectively wish to avoid getting too physical with on the hardwood.
Heck, sometimes simply having someone of this status on your squad can prevent any on-court escalation from happening. Tyler Hansbrough famously learned this back in 2013-14 when squaring off against Metta Sandiford-Artest (then Metta World Peace) and the New York Knicks.
Apparently, the Thunder may have found their own version of a rough-and-tough asset like this without even realizing it in McCain.
Thunder pulled off heist of the season with Jared McCain trade
Even without this newly unearthed skill set, it was already well understood that the Thunder pulled off the heist of the entire season with the Jared McCain trade.
Following a two-game adjustment period to kick off his tenure in OKC, the sophomore finds himself dropping impressive averages of 13.0 points and 3.0 rebounds while shooting 48.7 percent from the floor and 43.2 percent from distance in 20.8 minutes per night.
To The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, the 22-year-old is playing the "same exact" way that he was before being shelved with a UCL tear last season -- a level that had him beelining his way toward winning Rookie of the Year.
For merely a lower-valued first and three seconds, it's safe to say Philadelphia 76ers GM Daryl Morey fell short of his goal of "selling high" on the second-year guard, as early signs show that the Thunder landed him for an absolute steal.