Two weeks ago, Jared McCain followed up his vibrant, unspoken statement with a stern, vocal declaration. After he drained his sixth triple of the night — which pushed him to 30 points and sealed a win for his Philadelphia 76ers over the Brooklyn Nets — the sweet-shooting guard held three fingers to the air, patted his chest, pointed to himself and said, “I’m the Rookie of the Year.”
McCain wasn’t wrong then, and the five ensuing games since haven’t proven him wrong either. Despite Philadelphia’s turbulent, disastrous opening six weeks, its 2024 first-round pick is thriving. He’s been sensational and was rightfully dubbed Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month earlier this week.
Through 20 games, the former Duke Blue Devil is averaging 16.5 points (59.9 percent true shooting), 2.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists. He’s shooting 38.3 percent from deep and 54.6 percent on 2-pointers. Ignore the opening seven games, when he was largely out of the rotation and sparingly played before outcomes were decided, and his numbers are even better. That’s not some reconfigured criteria to prop up his Rookie of the Year case, but rather a clarification of his current form.
Over his past 13 outings, McCain is averaging 21.7 points (60.7 percent true shooting), 3.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists. He’s shooting 39.8 percent from deep and 54.4 percent on 2-pointers. During this span, he’s twice eclipsed the 30-point plateau and scored at least 20 points eight times. As Philadelphia’s three stars shuffle in and out of the lineup because of injuries, McCain continues dazzling and molding his responsibilities to reflect varying situations.
Unlike some early rookie contributors, he isn’t a collegiate upperclassman entering the league at 22, 23 or 24 years old who prospers from the jump and maintains a long career as a steady role player. He turns 21 in late February. There is genuine star potential here.
McCain Is An Elite Off-Ball Scorer
Throughout the 2024 Draft cycle, the primary selling point for McCain was his elite off-ball shooting after he netted 41.4 percent of his threes at Duke. Not only does his initial production reinforce that pedigree, he’s nailing the intricacies associated with premier off-ball play. He wields vast range and a snappy trigger in the face of timely closeouts, will zig-zag all over the floor to find optimal openings, and dabbles in the no-dip release to beat especially rangy contests.
Among 117 players to attempt 60-plus catch-and-shoot threes this season, McCain’s 44.4 percent mark is 17th, per NBA.com. Style points don’t inflate the scoreboard any more than roll-around-and-in makes, but boy are some of his threes particularly pleasing to watch.
Were McCain merely bombing away and flourishing as an off-ball marksman, his rookie year play would still be a resounding positive. But he’s offering far more than that and has assumed a substantial creation burden. According to Cleaning the Glass, just 52 percent of his field goals come via assists. The sole rookie with a lower rate of assisted makes is Isaiah Collier (38 percent), who’s logged 53 shots and made 32 percent of them.
McCain’s Scoring Versatility Is Wide-Ranging
While he’s not explosive off the bounce and lacks a dynamic handle, McCain is quite sturdy and strong, let alone for a 6-foot-2, 20-year-old rookie. He leverages his strength to find his spots and compensate for those other pedestrian tools. He excels playing off two feet and isn’t fazed inside the arc. Those traits are noteworthy for any rookie guard, and McCain capitalizes on them with his interior shot-making.
He has to play slowly, is adept at it — not everyone is!! — and constantly problem-solves mentally. His mind is always anticipating and drafting a response to the next defensive move. It’s remarkably sharp processing and helps illuminate how he’s enjoyed immediate success off the dribble.
He’s not faster physically than most defenders, but he’s faster mentally than almost all of them. Never stops problem-solving. https://t.co/LSeq5hNhgW pic.twitter.com/hUZ3X4qg1B
— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) November 23, 2024
According to PBP Stats, McCain’s effective field goal percentage on self-created shots (classified as any field goal attempted on touches longer than two seconds) is 51. League average is 49.2 percent. He’s shooting 47 percent from midrange (82nd percentile) and really applies his frame well in these spots to ward off or dislodge defenders.
As a finisher, he’s an abstract thinker. He’s converted 60 percent (41st percentile) of his looks around the rim, and his creativity is masterful — a collage of footwork, craft and ingenuity. He loves trying scoop finishes with either hand and busts out little shimmies, pivots, fakes and step-throughs to fashion beneficial angles.
Although it’s not ideal that so many of his shots inside look like they belong in a game of H-O-R-S-E, it’s much better to have these clubs in the bag than be completely lost without them. They’ll probably provide him a serviceable floor as a finisher, even if shortcomings elsewhere enforce a ceiling. A lot of smaller (and slower) guards are just outright dreadful finishers. McCain doesn’t appear headed down that path.
Sage fearlessness is a fitting moniker for his approach. Whether it’s assuming a heavy usage rate, walking down revered point-of-attack defenders or challenging vaunted rim protectors, McCain isn’t bothered by the tasks at hand. Whereas some young guards dash inside without hope or a plan — resigned to accept short-term failure as an accelerant for long-term development — he brings poised and prepared aggression when he navigates interior ventures.
Fifty-five percent on 2-pointers, with only 31 percent of them stemming from assists, is phenomenal stuff. It’s a data set as eye-popping as his gaudy scoring performances and shiny shooting output. Rookie guards do not often revel inside the arc like McCain has thus far.
“He can get by you, get into the lane,” Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley told reporters prior to Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia. “I think it’s similar to [Jalen] Brunson, what we saw last night, when he gets in the lane with a little bit of footwork and him being able to get his shot off.”
How McCain Can Keep Developing
McCain’s guile in the paint resembles Brunson’s. He is not to that level of versatile shot-making and dextrous ball-handling at the moment, but the parallels are unmistakable. It’s easy to see shades of Brunson in McCain when he methodically, unceasingly chisels his way to a 12-foot pull-up without blowing past anyone and relies almost exclusively on his strength and footwork.
Ascending to offensive superstardom like Brunson will necessitate growth as a ball-handler for McCain. A loose, elementary handle is his grandest limiter on the ball. He’s a talented and viable playmaker, but many of his paint touches involve him using his frame to shield the ball with his back or hip often facing the hoop. As a guard, that’s a tough formula to bend defenses and maximize the value of paint touches.
Philadelphia has manufactured some space by deploying him in actions initiated from the wings or featuring empty corners. There’s usually a little more room to breathe without worry of his handle being exposed, and his passing pops here. He’s a score-first guy, but that’s a byproduct of his handle as opposed to lackluster vision or critically flawed decision-making. Rectifying the handle will spark new opportunities to display skills like these.
McCain leads all rookies in points per game and Estimated Plus-Minus (plus-0.9). He’s flourishing in an arduous role for a team routinely down its offensive bedrock(s). He’s long been immensely skilled and is deciphering ways to mask his athletic flaws.
Given the justified pressure for Philadelphia to win now, with injury riddled Joel Embiid and max contract, 34-year-old Paul George at the helm, it would usually be perplexing to identify such a radiant bright spot on a 5-15, 14th-place team. But McCain’s been that good and encouraging.
While his play hasn’t altered the Sixers’ fortunes much in the interim, it does have prominent implications for whenever their next era begins; a McCain-Tyrese Maxey launching point into the unknown is pretty damn swell. This rookie is very good and operates as such — both in his words and actions. A few months from now, his late November proclamation might prove quite the bravado-based prophecy.
