Instant analysis: Sixers trade Jared McCain to OKC Thunder for four draft picks

Sixers guard Jared McCain has been traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 first-round pick and a trio of future second-round picks, a move that creates more questions than answers about Philadelphia’s trade deadline approach.

Here are the picks coming in for the Sixers:

• A 2026 first-round pick from the Houston Rockets. The Rockets’ first is protected 1-4 in this year’s draft
• A 2027 second-round pick that is the most favorable of second-rounders from OKC, Houston, Indiana, and Miami
• A 2028 Milwaukee Bucks second-round pick
• A 2028 OKC Thunder second-round pick

On first glance, it appears to be a bit of a sell low on McCain, who was one of the top rookies in the league last year before tearing his meniscus and missing most of the season following surgery. He was in the midst of a brutal season in Philadelphia, shooting 38.5 percent from the field in limited minutes, and had clearly fallen behind the other guards in the pecking order.

On the other hand, McCain seemed like he was finally turning the corner for Philadelphia over the last week, with McCain parlaying a garbage-time run against the Hornets into a breakout game against the Milwaukee Bucks, putting himself firmly back in the rotation mix. After Paul George was suspended for 25 games, there was some hope that the Sixers might play smaller, multi-guard looks that capitalize on McCain’s shooting ability, but he was buried on the bench for the second half of Tuesday’s win vs. Golden State, a surprising turn given that he’d finally turned the corner.

That seems to suggest, which we’ve harped on since the summer, that McCain was not an especially large piece of Philadelphia’s plans despite his strong start as a rookie. When McCain was drafted, the idea of having a top-three pick they’d eventually use on a guard was not on the radar, and Edgecombe’s immediate impact complicated life for McCain in a big way. With Quentin Grimes offering a cleaner two-way fit off the bench and McCain struggling for most of the year, it was tough to make a case for a bigger McCain role this season.

After drafting Edgecombe, it never felt like the Sixers spoke of McCain as a core player in the same breath as their other guards. In related news, it was not lost on this writer that McCain’s agent was in town for an extended spell recently, sitting close by during Sixers home games leading into the deadline.

Now, what is this all for? That’s the unknown as of this writing. The initial word in Philadelphia is that this move “creates flexibility” or some other similarly-worded jargon, opening space to convert Dominick Barlow’s deal and (perhaps) bring back Grimes on a longer-term deal in the summer. That may end up being true, but it doesn’t pass the smell test for me. The Sixers had many avenues to create additional flexibility at the deadline, thanks to Paul George’s suspension lowering their tax bill. Dumping a promising young player to do so, even if it did bring in some extra capital, would be a pretty rotten move on its own. So there’s what I can report right now, and what I believe could be true — and in the latter case, this loads them up with more draft capital that could help them make a bigger move.

Maybe, in the end, it’s as simple as McCain being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Given that he was one of their best and most dangerous shooters on a team that needs those badly, I’m not sure I can wrap my arms around that. But it could be as simple as the Sixers not being anchored to the value most people have attached to McCain since that bright stretch last fall. By 3 pm tomorrow, we’ll have a better idea.

This story is developing…