Jared McCain led all reserves with a rookie-career-high 12 points in Wednesday’s loss to the Pistons.
From a Philadelphia 76ers fan’s perspective, there wasn’t much to like about Wednesday night’s 105-95 loss to Detroit. I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to do a Severance procedure or use a Men In Black neuralyzer and forget it ever happened. However, one bright spot was the most extended action to date for rookie guard Jared McCain. The 2024 16th overall pick played 22 minutes, scoring 12 points while shooting 3-of-9 from the field and 6-of-6 from the free throw line, and collecting three rebounds and three assists against one turnover. Following the game, McCain discussed his first week in the NBA:
“Obviously, the competition is the best in the world, so I think just getting out there and competing…and getting on the court and being like I belonged, instead of seeing a superstar that I watched since I was a kid and trying to look up to him, obviously, you have to compete against them. So, any chance I have gotten on the court out there, I am just trying to compete and learning that when you come into the game and you are being present when you sit on the bench… you can be on the bench a long time and you can get lost, looking at the crowd and everything…but when you actually stay present in the game, that is when you get in the game and you feel good, and you are in the moment, playing well.”
McCain mentioned coming off the bench, which is obviously something new for a guy who was a McDonald’s All-American and then started all 36 games during his year at Duke. He talked about making that adjustment now that he’s at the NBA level:
“It takes a bit but it is something I am having fun learning. My whole life, I have played a lot and up until this point, I am learning it is a new season in my life. I am going to grow, it’s a new process I am learning and I think it’s something that is really cool. Obviously, I get to watch [Tyrese Maxey] go out, and when he is on the court, playing as well as he does, but I am also learning how to be on the bench…and be like I am going to support this team and I am going to go in the game and play as hard as I can. It’s hard when your legs are tired, you have so many excuses you could come up with, but when you get out there on the court, there is no excuse. So, I think I am learning just to have that mentality that it doesn’t matter how much time I am getting, I am going to go out there and play as hard as I can.”
Tyrese is definitely a player McCain can aspire to model his trajectory after. Maxey was also a post-lottery first-round pick (thanks again, Moose!), who only started eight games during his rookie season and is now an All-Star and in All-NBA conversations. Jared elaborated on what he is learning from Tyrese:
“I learn from [Tyrese Maxey] all the time, as much as I can. He is coming to me a lot. A lot of times it is nice when he just checks up on me, asking me ‘how are you doing, how did you feel out there, keep being aggressive.’ When he tells me to keep being aggressive, that’s the biggest compliment you can get from him. So, I think I ask him as many questions as I can, it’s off the court stuff, recovery stuff, mental side of stuff, how he adjusted to a new city from college, just simple stuff. I am asking him a lot.”
On the flip side, Maxey was impressed with what he saw from his rookie teammate on the court Wednesday night:
“Jared was good, man…he fought his tail off, offensively and defensively. I just told him to be ultra-aggressive. We have seen the flashes in training camp, the flashes in pickup and stuff. He just has to be aggressive. I have been in that spot before, you know, where you are getting out there and it’s your first time coming off the bench, but you are nervous to make a mistake [and] you don’t want the coaches to get on you…you want to be perfect but you can’t be perfect, it’s not a perfect world. It’s basketball, everybody is going to make mistakes…stuff happens. I think he was really good tonight though, he fought his tail off defensively and he played well offensively.”
No one can realistically expect a Maxey-like rise from McCain. For now, though, he’s contributing to the team and already showing signs of being a helpful rotation player sooner rather than later. For a 20-year-old with only a handful of professional games under his belt, that’ll do just fine.