The OKC Thunder Just Landed Another Young Stud In Their Backcourt

This trade season, nobody expected the Oklahoma City Thunder to make major tweaks, as their lineup of defensive stalwarts, hardcourt bruisers, and scoring machines successfully reached the NBA’s summit last year. Still, Thunder GM Sam Presti found a way to beef up his current roster by digging into his deep stash of draft assets.

On Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Thunder would be acquiring Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick (from the Houston Rockets), a 2027 second-round pick swap, and two 2028 second-round picks (via the Milwaukee Bucks).

Though McCain did come at a cost, he may very well prove his value in the near future. In the early goings of the 2024⁠–25 season, the former Duke Blue Devil made his impact felt in Philly, averaging 15.3 points per game on 46.0% shooting from the field (38.3% from beyond the arc). A month and a half into the season, pundits were projecting that McCain would be a strong contender for Rookie of the Year.

A cruel plot twist came when the 6-foot-3 guard went down with a meniscus tear in mid-December. McCain missed the rest of that season, and by the time he rejoined the Sixers lineup in the 2025⁠–26 campaign, a lottery pick by the name of VJ Edgecombe had grabbed the spotlight with his own scoring prowess.

Now an odd man out in Philadelphia’s guard rotation, McCain became an expendable asset. By some stroke of basketball fortune, the team that became rather interested in his services happened to be the defending champions. If there’s anyone who’ll be able to figure out how to integrate McCain into a robust lineup of young thoroughbreds, it’s Mark Daigneault, who masterfully steered the Thunder to an NBA title last year.

While OKC has proven that its formula works, opposing teams have certainly done plenty of homework to devise counters on both ends of the floor, and adding a new wrinkle or two will help the Thunder’s cause, and as such, the arrival of McCain sets up the Thunder for even more success in the coming months and years.