Jared McCain Is Not Bad, But Does He Fit With The Sixers?
The Sixers drafted Duke PG Jared McCain last night with the 16th overall pick. McCain in a vacuum isn’t a bad basketball player. He is quick, he can shoot it from distance, and he is an excellent free throw shooter. McCain had two 30-point games in the NCAA tournament as well. He can play, and he should develop and find a role in the NBA. He likely won’t have a big impact in year one, but neither will anyone else drafted at 16 overall for a team that still has title aspirations.
Jared McCain Too Small To Play With Maxey?
The issue is that he is 6’2 and the Sixers’ goal this season is to beat the Boston Celtics who have big guards and wings. Tyrese Maxey is set to sign a 5-year max extension this offseason. He is going to be here.
When McCain is ready to play significant minutes for a playoff team, how many of those minutes can be alongside Maxey? Maxey played 37.5 minutes per game last season. That would leave 11.5 minutes for McCain if he can’t play with Maxey. That to me is the question with the pick. If they drafted Dalton Knecht for example, he would be able to play with Maxey due to his size.
Daryl Morey claimed that the Sixers had McCain as a top 10 pick in the draft and that you never draft based on need. He said that McCain was the best player available, and they took the best player available. I can understand that thought process. Teams have missed out on stars by drafting for need. The ultimate example is Sam Bowie being drafted by the Trailblazers instead of Michael Jordan because they already had Clyde Drexler. That is an extreme example, but you get the point. Portland would have made it work.
The other outlier example is the Toronto Raptors championship team. Their 2 main guards were both 6’0 tall in Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet. They had numerous tough defenders around the smaller guards, and they made it work. It is difficult to make two small guards work, but not impossible.
I have questions about how McCain fits, but in 2024-2025 it isn’t about him or any rookie, it is about if Daryl Morey builds a team that can compete with the Celtics.