The Philadelphia 76ers had been arguably essentially the most snake-bitten crew within the NBA. It simply obtained worse.
Rookie guard Jared McCain, a prime candidate for Rookie of the 12 months, suffered a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee Friday and can endure surgical procedure that can knock him out indefinitely. the Sixers introduced it on Saturday.
Precisely when McCain suffered the torn meniscus is unclear. He left the sport in opposition to the Indiana Pacers at one level, however that was due to a fall wherein the again of his head bounced on the sector.
Regardless, the lack of McCain would be the worst blow ever to the Sixers, who’ve struggled to assemble their core triumvirate of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George on the courtroom. The trio has solely performed three video games collectively up to now in 2024-25, and Embiid is now coping with a sinus fracture that must be evaluated this weekend. He performed a complete of six video games all season.
The crew holds a file of 7-16, and McCain is an enormous purpose why that file is not even worse. The sixteenth total choose within the 2024 NBA Draft leads all rookies in factors scored whereas taking pictures a strong 38.3% from 3-point vary, set many milestones alongside the way in which.
McCain had began at level guard with Maxey out, however largely got here off the bench in latest video games. He was nonetheless an necessary a part of the rotation and changing him won’t be simple, even when the crew has grow to be accustomed to enjoying shorthanded.
When it got here to Rookie of the 12 months, McCain was the favourite to win the award, which is as a lot a mirrored image of the productiveness of this season’s rookie class as it’s the energy of McCain’s play. With McCain definitely not enjoying sufficient video games to win the award, the sector is now actually large open.
Stephon Citadel of the San Antonio Spurs, Dalton Knecht of the Los Angeles Lakers and Yves Missi of the New Orleans Pelicans all loom as prospects, however many different rookies may grow to be prime contenders with only one good month.
