Dec 23, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (20) controls the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the third quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bill Streicher
The trade winds caught up to the 76ers out on the West Coast, as they parted ways with second-year guard Jared McCain.
The Sixers made a deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who will send the first-round pick of the Houston Rockets in 2026, and three second-round picks for McCain.
The second-round picks gotten by the Sixers are: the second most favorable pick among Oklahoma City, Houston, Indiana and Miami in 2026; 2028 pick of Milwaukee and the 2028 of Oklahoma City.
The Duke product, who the Sixers selected 16th overall last season, saw his exciting first year come to an end due to a torn meniscus in his left knee. He then tore a ligament in his thumb just prior to the start of this season. McCain seemed to be finding his way from those two setbacks recently, but now the backup shooting guard position will be handled by Quentin Grimes.
The future of the Sixers backcourt is pretty well set with Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe. Grimes, who seemed to be battling with McCain for that first guard off the bench spot, scored in double-figures in 21 of the first 24 games he played with the Sixers this season, but has only averaged 8.7 points over his past 13 games. Over the past two games, Grimes has a total of 24 points on 9-of-17 shooting in 51 minutes. This move may up his minutes and could return him to the dynamic bench-scorer that every team in the league covets.
So what happens from here? Is this a trade to set up more moves by the Sixers? Do they now sign fully one of their two-way contract players, namely Dominick Barlow? Or will they do both?
President of basketball operations Daryl Morey has almost always been active when trade deadlines approach. So maybe he's not done yet. There are now assets with which to work, whether that's used for building for the future or the championship chase in the near future will remain to be seen.
As of now, the Sixers rotation without Paul George includes Barlow as a starter, Adem Bona backing up Joel Embiid, Grimes the shooter off the bench and forward Trendon Watford. The return of George in late March will juggle that rotation a bit, or maybe a move or moves by Morey will do so before Thursday's 3 p.m. trade deadline.
