Two years ago at this time, Jared McCain was still rising up NBA Draft boards as a promising guard for the Duke Blue Devils.
A year ago, he was just coming to grips with a tear to the lateral meniscus in his left knee that led to the end of a first professional season that was getting serious Rookie of the Year consideration.
Now, McCain is heading to a new team.
McCain was traded from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday after not breaking back into the rotation following his return this season from multiple ailments.
BREAKING: The Philadelphia 76ers are trading guard Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 Rockets first-round pick and three second-round picks, sources tell ESPN. pic.twitter.com/0wGXxzPURG
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 4, 2026
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McCain was a top-15 recruit in his class when he went to Duke, so his performance there was no huge surprise.
He put up 14.3 points per game, second on the Blue Devils to fellow future NBA player Kyle Filipowski. They both left before Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel’s star-studded freshman class arrived.
While Flagg was putting people on notice early in the 2024-25 season in Durham, McCain was doing the same in Philly. In 23 games before injury, he was averaging 15.3 points per game while shooting 38.3% from 3-point range.
McCain never got the same chance this season, hampered additionally by tearing a ligament in his right thumb during his comeback to the court.
The Thunder clearly believe in McCain’s talent. And they had a boatload of first-round picks to choose from to get it done.
Now, McCain will hope he looks a lot more like the Duke version of himself than the version that could hardly get off the ground this season.
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