Despite battling for a top spot in the Western Conference, the OKC Thunder still have an impressive number of picks, including a projected lottery pick for the 2024 NBA Draft.
Let’s take a look at Jared McCain and how he would fit into the Thunder system.
Profile Project
- Height: 6’3
- Weight: 195
- Span: N / A
- Age: 20.3
- School: Duke
Rapid screening report
McCain will bring a steady hand to any team’s secondary unit. With excellent shooting touch and high-level playmaking, the Duke product will make an instant impact at the NBA level.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
McCain has one of the best feel for the game you will find in this class. He is rarely rushed by opposing defenses and his style of play can work with any team.
The Duke guard has the ability to complete every pass, great anticipation skills to put cutters in advantageous situations and navigates the pick-and-roll at a high pace.
Adding to that game is his shooting, which McCain can do in a multitude of ways, as demonstrated in the Blue Devils’ loss to James Madison in the round of 16. The 20-year-old guard can fill it up from beyond the arc, shooting 41 percent from deep this season.
McCain can knock out catch-and-shoot looks consistently, converting at a 42 percent clip ranking in the 91st percentile. While he can thrive as an off-ball guard who forces you to chase him around screens, he can also get up and knock down jumpers off the dribble at a 38 percent rate.
The Blue Devils guard loves to get out in transition, run the court and make the right reads posting 1,309 points per possession in this setting. In the half-court, you can count on a consistent pick-and-roll threat that ranks in the 94th percentile in that category, which will translate perfectly to the NBA.
He’s not afraid to bring physicality and mix it up. Everything needed to defend larger matchups. Whether flying into action or diving to recover stray bullets, it’s easy to see his relentless drive that makes McCain look like the Energizer Bunny at times.
The Duke product always feels in control and never overwhelmed. There isn’t necessarily a stat to back this up, but he passes the eye test as a mature guard who can help you set up comebacks or provide a spark through his lack of panic. His low turnover rate is a nice nod to that, even in the cramped and sloppy college game.
Weaknesses
Despite his success at the rim this season, with 63 percent passing success, can he find a way to master his crafty, shifty style at the NBA level against high-level edge protectors? This is something he will likely struggle with at first and a difficult skill to teach.
This rim finish results in sizing issues that may not be correctable. Barring a wacky growth spurt, McCain has done a great job of maximizing her figure so far. Sure, being in an NBA building can’t hurt, but how much extra size can you make it? That’s who the scrappy guard is.
This size will limit him defensively at the next level, even if he is willing to defend with effort and intensity, he will often be oversized and less athletic than those around him. He needs to be surrounded by high-end defenders who can allow him to hide off the ball and jump passing lanes as part of a team defense.
Availability
Thunder Cup
Future role
McCain will please some general managers extremely. At worst, he will be the prototypical sixth man. There’s simply no way the Corona, Calif. native can’t make an impact as a bench guard who bridges the secondary and stagger lineups. At best, he can be a starter-level guard in this league surrounded by ultra-talented wings.
Where he likely lands will be in the running for best backup guard in the NBA, who can be used as a starter if a star falls. The luxury of the ship not sinking when your starter goes down is worth a high pick alone, especially in a low 2024 NBA Draft. Certainty will be more important than ever.
Jalen Brunson in Dallas is a good example. He spent his early years playing a calming guard role for the Mavericks’ bench units and finished fourth in the race for the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2020-21. In the 2022 NBA playoffs, the Villanova product won two Mavericks playoff games without Luka Doncic to avoid being ousted by the Jazz.
Even though McCain will likely never reach Brunson’s star status, the first level of impact with the right team seems like a safe bet.
For the Thunder, he would instantly be the best playmaker off the bench and help make life easier for the lineups of Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren starting the second and fourth frames.
Rotation adjustment
McCain helps extend the Thunder’s depth and connect each lineup. With Cason Wallace finishing the first and third quarters with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, McCain can lead the charge for Williams and Holmgren to start the second and fourth periods.
Wallace still has some untapped playmaking skills that can be developed over the summer and change the nature of this team’s needs. While many will comment “Another guard? At the thought of McCain, trading for the Duke point guard might be the better choice. When Vasilije Micic was in Bricktown, he increased those units tenfold, just like McCain.
In a weak 2024 NBA Draft class, it’s hard to find a can’t-miss prospect. It’s hard to find ways for McCain not to be, at worst, a cheap, controllable impact player that Oklahoma City will quickly need as contracts are awarded to its core members.
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