The Oklahoma City Thunder have to be feeling pretty good about their trade at the deadline for Jared McCain, even though the Philadelphia 76ers have maintained that they won the deal. However, OKC should be laughing at the latest rumor that Philadelphia is confident it can replace him in this year’s draft, which Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported.
Not only did the Sixers get swept by the New York Knicks in the second round, but they also decided to fire Daryl Morey (even though he had two years left on his contract). He was the guy who was confident that Philadelphia won the McCain trade, and now, he doesn’t have a job anymore.
McCain has played great for the Thunder, Morey is out of a job, and the Sixers are still somehow confident they can replace him. Or at least, they were. And that should make the Thunder laugh.
Thunder should laugh because the 76ers still think they can easily replace Jared McCain
Since joining the Thunder, McCain has fit right in. He’s been a perfect spark plug scorer off the bench, even giving OKC some solid playoff minutes as they attempt to go back-to-back.
Meanwhile, even though the Sixers were able to take down the Boston Celtics in Round 1, they got absolutely smacked by the Knicks in Round 2. And afterward, Morey was fired.
The very guy who was so confident that trading McCain was the right decision got fired from his job. And even though Morey is gone, the Sixers are still confident they can find a McCain replacement in this year’s draft.
“One source with knowledge of the situation insisted Tuesday that the widely criticized trade of McCain to Oklahoma City for a 2026 first-round pick via Houston and three second-round picks was not the proverbial last straw,” Fischer wrote. “Ownership very much approved the McCain deal and sources say that Sixers leadership feels quite confident in its post-Morey scouting ability to ensure that a quality player is selected at No. 22 overall next month.”
Maybe the Sixers can. Maybe there are good enough players in this year’s draft – which is a good one – to replace what McCain brought to the table. But it’s no easy task.
Finding a guy who can shoot and score the ball as well as McCain is difficult, and drafting is hard.
Not only should Thunder fans be thrilled that they landed McCain in a deal this year, but they can also laugh at the Sixers’ stubbornnes over the fact that they lost the deal.
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