Even if the old front office regime pulled the rug under his feet, Jared McCain won't stoop to pettiness. Instead, the always-happy NBA personality is excited to see how the fireworks will go off on the Philadelphia 76ers this upcoming season.
Now on the Oklahoma City Thunder, McCain has fully grown comfortable at his second NBA stop. Added at the 2026 NBA trade deadline, he had to learn on the fly. In a sink-or-swim moment, he resembled prime Michael Phelps. The 22-year-old helped his new squad go up 3-2 in the 2026 Western Conference Finals with a couple of 20-point outings.
When the Thunder desperately needed points from the sans Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, McCian stepped up. Now fully settled and with an entire offseason under his belt, he's ready to help them contend for an NBA championship. This time, with a larger role on offense as a scoring punch off the bench.
But looking across the Eastern Conference, McCain's old team did a superb job at helping buy some goodwill from the always-brutal Sixers fanbase. Philadelphia went NBA superstar hunting. The result? Acquiring Jaylen Brown in a blockbuster deal with archrival Boston Celtics and landing LeBron James in an upset of the highly-publicized star sweepstakes.
Count McCain as a believer in his old team. Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid must figure out their new dynamics with two fellow perennial All-Star talents. Regardless of the ceiling and floor of this star-studded squad, they're going to be must-watch TV throughout the entire 2026-27 season. There's a reason why Philadelphia's media corp has eclipsed triple-digit members since the summer ended.
"It looks like they're an elite team," McCain said about the Sixers. "I'm excited to go back there and play them."
The Thunder will face the Sixers twice in the 2026-27 regular season — the first time at Philadelphia on Wednesday, Jan. 6; the second time at OKC on Saturday, Feb. 13. Still incredibly far away to project what those matchups look like. But expect the entire NBA world to tune in.
McCain has circled those two dates on his calendar. And who knows — there's a nonzero chance that the Thunder and Sixers square off in the 2027 NBA Finals. At least, that's what the soap-opera-loving section of the NBA world would love to see. His history with Philadelphia would be a juicy sub-storyline to detail.
"Excited to see some of the guys. I was just talking to VJ (Edgecombe) like a week ago, so it was really cool to just talk to him," McCain said. "I'll see some of the guys when we go back there, so they did. They made some good changes and I'm excited to play them."
Jared McCain on the Sixers’ summer: “It looks like they're an elite team. I'm excited to go back there and play them… Excited to see some of the guys. I was just talking to VJ a week ago, so it was really cool to talk to them.” pic.twitter.com/VijwIFznVG
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) October 18, 2026
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jared McCain believes new-look, star-studded Sixers are 'an elite team'