Philly Front Office

Tyrese Maxey turns 24 today and the Sixers savior is getting the best present he could ask for, the return of Jared McCain. McCain makes his season debut tonight after missing the first 6 games due to a torn UCL in his thumb. Of course, this is after he missed the final 59 games of his rookie season. He only played in 23 contests (and really only played in 16), but that was enough to provide some kind of optimistic light in last year’s black hole of a season.

Through summer league, preseason, and the first few games of the season, McCain looked like a bust. He was undersized, couldn’t play defense, and the one thing he was supposed to be able to do, shoot, wasn’t happening. Through the first 7 games of the season he was averaging 11 minutes per game, shooting .250 from 3, and averaging less than 7 per game. Wonderful.

Then on November 8th in LA against the Lakers, Tyrese Maxey didn’t play. The Sixers lost the game, but McCain finally got some decent run, playing 30 minutes. The Sixers lost by 10, but McCain shot 4-9 from 3 and scored 18. That was different. The next night, still no Maxey, and McCain played 30 minutes again. He scored 27 points and the Sixers actually won. Maxey ended up missing 6 straight games and McCain averaged 33 minutes, 25 points, and .441 from 3 on 10 attempts per game. We just might have something here!

Things didn’t stay as white hot as they started, but in the 15 games McCain ended up finishing once he was finally given the chance to play, he averaged 20 points per game on some great shooting. He was far and away the leading candidate for rookie of the year. Unfortunately, in the 16th game on December 13th, our one light was snuffed out. He tore his meniscus and was done for the year. Damn. On the bright side, the team was 6-9 in those 15 games and surely would not have landed on the 3rd pick in the draft had he not had the injury. We’ve been dreaming on those 15 games ever since.

Now, McCain finally returns to a Sixers team that is shockingly 5-1 and in need of more shooting, more ball handling, and no one messing up the good vibes. That’s exactly what McCain is going to bring to the table. So far, the team has been led by Tyrese Maxey’s ascension to the next level and willing the team to keep fighting and playing hard. McCain is going to fit right in.

He is also going to help limit some of the minutes these guys are playing. Maxey is at 42.5, VJ Edgecombe is at 39, and Kelly Oubre is playing 38 minutes per game. That’s too many. McCain should help all 3 somewhat. Those numbers are going to normalize even more when Paul George and Dominick Barlow return from injury. At that point the Sixers will be 12 deep and feeling pretty good about themselves in a flagging Eastern Conference.

Happy Birthday Tyrese Maxey. This is your team. Now have some fun with Jared McCain again.