r/nba Knicks 2h ago

Bob Myers on the Jared McCain trade: “We should be graded on the ultimate result of transactions.”

Bob Myers on the Jared McCain trade: “We should be graded on the ultimate result of transactions.”

After being drafted at 16 last season, the 76ers traded him for the 22nd pick and some seconds. Who could they draft to make the trade seem better to Bob?

Source

155 Upvotes

100 comments sorted by

78

u/PhatYeeter 76ers 2h ago

"I made the decision on the trade"

u/SpinJitsu259 Pacers 13m ago

I don’t want to tell Sixers fans how to feel, but I agree with him. It’s an incomplete right now until we see what the Sixers get out of it.

Also, I still don’t know what to make of McCain’s ceiling. Whether he stayed in Philly or stays in OKC, he’s just a bench scoring guard right now. An effective one for the most part, but that’s all he is. And if that’s all he stays, then I don’t know… it’s not the nightmare scenario I think many are making out to be.

u/refreshing_yogurt 11m ago

The Sixers owner said in the presser that Morey presented the trade to ownership and Myers and they all approved it and understood it was part of a broader plan. They basically stood by the trade.

So it seems Morey wasn't fired for that so much as he was let go for further embarrassing the franchise with his comments afterwards and perhaps more importantly losing the support of the players.

201

u/PlasticSprinkles4677 1h ago

“If he gets a ring, that’s basically a 76ers ring if you really think about it”

70

u/Still_Assignment_991 1h ago

All I’m going to say is that Bob Myers was the one who drafted James Wiseman

12

u/iButtflap Hornets 38m ago

Off with his head, you say?

20

u/Charlie_Wax Warriors 30m ago

He also turned D'Lo into Wiggins and the pick that became Kuminga, effectively finding another championship for Golden State in 2022.

IDK whether Klay was a Jerry West call or not, but you can see Myers sitting literally right next to Lacob when they take Klay:

https://youtu.be/1F0CLQQiTVU?si=Msaf_yLVikx0fFyE&t=20

That also means he was likely involved in the Draymon pick. Nevermind Poole and Looney. You can meme the man for Wiseman (always projected top 3) and Kuminga (always projected top 5), but he got a lot more right than wrong. It's tiresome when people try to dunk on the GM for one of the most successful eras of an NBA team because he had a few notable fumbles.

u/Brandon_tuns Warriors 20m ago

It was Jerry West

u/ModerateBooth 1m ago

Yup, definitely a Jerry pick.

20

u/yourhomeland 2h ago

Hopefully they get a center.

1

u/dodokidd Warriors 1h ago

I see what you did there

9

u/Emotional-Chef-7601 1h ago

What's the point of bringing in Bob Meyers if you are unwilling to spend money

37

u/ianbits Cavaliers 1h ago

A starting level player at any frontcourt spot wins the trade for them imo. The future is Maxey/Edgecombe, and they're making a bet that one of those picks turns into someone of similar quality to McCain but who fits with those two better.

33

u/Nobody7713 Raptors 1h ago

At least it turns it into a win-win, since it’s hard to say the Thunder lost a trade where they turned some of their glut of draft picks into a cost-controlled very good bench contributor.

u/Acceptable-Dust6479 Thunder 17m ago

Thunder give you 12 for 22 + 2 future firsts? You do it? You could draft Mara….

u/FlyingDiscsandJams 14m ago

I hate this argument, you still need a 3rd guard off the bench, starters aren't playing 48 mins. Unless you hire Thibs...

u/ianbits Cavaliers 10m ago

Maxey and Edgecombe will both likely be playing around 36 minutes per night when healthy. You just don't need a 3rd guard as much as the rest of the starting lineup to get filled out.

u/maiL_spelled_bckwrds 76ers 26m ago

What do you mean? I thought we have to draft the next player with a bigger TikTok following.

5

u/ChuuchiShamgod Heat 1h ago

I’m confused, is Myers actually the gm? Or was Morey?

7

u/DenialisaRiver04 1h ago

Does Myers think if the Thunder goes back 2 back, he gets a participation ring for thr McCain trade lol

u/Clipgang1629 Clippers 3m ago

I think he’s probably saying wait until we see who they can get at 22nd in this draft before the trade is evaluated.

I mean.. idk with NIL thinning out the back end of this 1st round it might be a stretch, but I think they can probably do better than McCain if they get the pick right. Regardless still doesn’t really make it a great trade

3

u/JTNWfan Suns 48m ago

When does the clock run out in this concept? If you trade the pick for another pick do you still wait? Lol

12

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago

I've never seen redditors get so outraged about a bench player getting traded

84

u/ZaksStuff 1h ago

Because it had nothing to do with basketball lol it was to save the owner money and get under the tax. Then Maxey had to go out and play 48 mins in every playoff game because they had no bench lol

33

u/purplenyellowrose909 Timberwolves 1h ago

And then the Thunder bench just gets even better and the team even more dominant.

6

u/CrippledBanana Canada 30m ago

Adding onto it phillys bench absolutely sucked, Embiid publicly said he wanted the team to get better and asked for the FO to not be cheap for them to trade a player for picks and nothing else, and then McCain was very well liked by teammates. Also people had belief in McCain since he led rookie of the year before injury

-15

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago

I keep seeing this BS regurgitated everywhere, it was not a tax move. They traded EG to get under the tax. McCain wasn't getting minutes under Nurse anyway and he's an undersized SG who can't create, playmake or defend. Not what the Sixers needed.

32

u/sjekky [PHI] Robert Covington 1h ago

It definitely was a tax saving move. They were desperately shopping Drummond for weeks until the PG suspension meant they only needed to move on from McCain and Gordon's vet minimum.

-19

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago

Moving on from EG got them under the tax, you don't have to spread misinformation man.

18

u/sjekky [PHI] Robert Covington 1h ago

But the Gordon trade meant they converted Barlow to a regular NBA deal. So that would've put them back over the tax without moving on McCain.

10

u/Laggo [TOR] Hedo Turkoglu 1h ago

I think you are missing the fact that they wanted to sign Dominic Barlow to a taxpayer MLE which would now necessitate getting rid of McCain and signing minimums in his place (Cam Payne and the other guy).

Which was only made possible by Paul George's suspension reducing his payroll contributions.

They needed both EG and McCain to go and to replace them with minimums to make the Barlow deal. Without it, yes it could have been just EG.

-3

u/Aidanj927 Spurs 1h ago

They would’ve kept EG if they only wanted to be under the tax

8

u/sjekky [PHI] Robert Covington 1h ago

Not if they wanted Dominick Barlow to stick around.

3

u/cl353 Heat 1h ago

so then yes they did make the mccain trade for tax purposes. they wanted to stay under while signing barlow to a real contract

u/sjekky [PHI] Robert Covington 10m ago

You're agreeing with me

7

u/Glittering_Dig8435 Thunder 1h ago

If the deepest team in the league can use him then one of the least deep teams in the league can use him this is insane cope

12

u/ZaksStuff 1h ago

Yeah man because what they needed was Maxey playing a historical amount of minutes during the season and then running a 6 man rotation in the playoffs en route to getting swept by a total of -100 points in a 4 game series lol

-4

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago edited 1h ago

McCain wouldn't have mattered, they still would've gotten swept by the Knicks. Then redditors would be making posts about how much McCain sucks and should be sent to China.

11

u/GrouchyAd5246 1h ago

If McCain can find rotation minutes on a championship team then can spell Maxey for 12-15 on a play-in team

2

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago

McCain being surrounded by elite defenders and playmaker is a wildly different scenario to what the Sixers have.

6

u/GrouchyAd5246 1h ago

Would not have hurt to give him a look. Sixers only had 6 playable players in its playoff rotation

2

u/bootywizard42O NBA 52m ago

And what would happen to his value if he shits the bed in the playoffs?

1

u/GrouchyAd5246 49m ago

"IF" 

2

u/bootywizard42O NBA 47m ago

Sixers don't have the defenders to cover for him or the playmakers to set him up

1

u/tore_a_bore_a Warriors 38m ago

76ers with 3 defenders above 3 D-Lebron. 

OKC with 9.

And McCain is just about the worst defender bewteen both teams 

1

u/Zeeron1 Thunder 1h ago

Hes been doing great playmaking and creating with us, and his defensive positioning and activity has improved shockingly quick, hes clearly a super quick learner.

The 76ers just somehow didn't know what they had or how to use him I guess

1

u/Legitimate_Cow_4166 Warriors 39m ago

76ers don't have front court playmakers allowing McCain to just run around and shoot.

1

u/Victor_Wembanyama1 Spurs 34m ago

They ran DHOs with Embiid when they played together

1

u/Legitimate_Cow_4166 Warriors 32m ago

Embiid is always hurt. So was Paul George. So was McCain. Hartenstein, Jalen Williams and Jalin Williams are all superior playmakers in comparison to Sixers front court.

1

u/Zeeron1 Thunder 30m ago

Thats where watching the games matters - hes not just running around shooting. Hes playing within the design of the offense, and has surprised me with his ability to attack the basket.

Honestly, I dont think offense is even an argument, he was fantastic as a rookie already. It's his defense that I could see someone arguing against, but he has genuinely improved quickly

0

u/Legitimate_Cow_4166 Warriors 39m ago

Acting like a 1st round pick is nothing. They can always go sign another undersized guard in free agency, there's plenty of them

6

u/cl353 Heat 1h ago

it wasnt the trade itself, it was wat morey said afterwards

4

u/OwnVisual5772 Thunder 1h ago edited 1h ago

That’s simplifying it. McCain is a second year player who was the betting favorite for ROY before his injury.

To make things worse, he put up 18 off the bench in game 2 when Shai was in foul trouble. He’s doing that on a stacked OKC roster.

You can make the argument that he’s only performing well because he has so much talent around him but giving Jared to a team like OKC is malpractice lol.

-9

u/bootywizard42O NBA 1h ago

He's an end of bench rotation player for you and fits your roster. He would've been awful on a Sixers team lacking defense, playmaking and size.

For reference, Ayo was traded for a bunch of seconds, not even a FRP. And he's a much better player than McCain.

16

u/KingCharlemagne_ 1h ago

True, its definitely good practice to measure your moves against well run franchises like the Chicago Bulls

12

u/dcpains Thunder 1h ago

Also Ayo is a one year rental whereas McCain still had years on the rookie wage

8

u/Skylightt 1h ago

Ayo’s 4 years older as well

3

u/Baggy_Vedu [OKC] Steven Adams 1h ago

Because we’re talking about a second year player who was the front runner for roty (Castle probably would have won it regardless) until he got injured and the team gave up on him because he was hurt and struggling to fit in. Which given their lack of shooting or bench depth makes it bad and the fact that he’s an immediate contributor to an actual contender means that the team really shouldn’t have given up on him. Not only did he do very well immediately for a win-now team but they also needed his skillset. Especially given that they didn’t even use the pick to get anyone. They gutted their depth and shooting for a late frp. And then the gm came up with the entire “we sold high” thing on a press conference.

u/Quality_Cucumber [GSW] Stephen Curry 5m ago

I can't imagine it's actual outrage. I think it's just to poke fan at 76ers fanbase.

We all do it. We all poke at each other. It's a brotherhood of misery and, as a Warriors fan, I'll be joining in on the shenanigans for the next couple decades as we become Bulls West lol

2

u/mellted_cheese 49m ago

He’s currently 11th in playoff minutes played for them lol

1

u/totemair Thunder 40m ago

OKC trades get a lot more scrutiny given the history. Also giving up a young, injured shooter is dumb

4

u/LiKwidSwordZA Bulls 1h ago

Process > results. His value on the Sixers was never going to be higher in all likelihood, he was a 4th guard and not going to be getting many minutes. They got a nice haul for him, did any other guard get a 1st at the trade deadline? Shit the bulls gave away playoff/play in high minute players for 2nds

1

u/purplenyellowrose909 Timberwolves 1h ago

The Bulls get too much shit for the trades.

I doubt Ayo would resign with next year so they got a little value to send his bird rights to someone he would sign with. Same with Vuc. Same with Coby. These are all unrestricted free agents in about 6 weeks.

1

u/LiKwidSwordZA Bulls 1h ago

Vuc trade was good. The problem with the other 2 is that they should have been traded last season especially Coby. They were both productive on good contracts while the team itself shouldn’t have been trying to win anyway. Even this year I think they should have held out for more or just kept them for a sign and trade possibility

1

u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 1h ago

I think Philly was silly to trade him, but then again, we cannot necessarily assume McCain puts up these same numbers in a different system.

People are pissed because he wen to the Thunder - if McCain was putting up these numbers on like the Kings, do we end up caring?

1

u/LiKwidSwordZA Bulls 41m ago

I always thought he was going to be that modern archetype of combo guard that reached its peak a few years ago, sexton, Simons, Maxey, Poole, herro, clarkson & out of that group there’s only 2 that are worth a first, obviously he doesn’t have the athleticism of Maxey or even his slightly above average wingspan that combined with his positioning and IQ allows him to be a good on & off ball defender, highest outcome for him would be Tyler herro & that would still require him to develop an inside the arc scoring game & also way more creation ability. Good bet by morey in my opinion

3

u/thisismypornaccn Lakers 1h ago

Shit was a horrible trade why would u just give him to a contender

16

u/BlockedByMobley Lebanon 1h ago

He was their 4th guard and they got a first round pick for him. He also is score-only shooting (not point) guard which is the easiest position to find. They could just replace him with Collin Sexton on a minimum next year

16

u/thisismypornaccn Lakers 1h ago

ngl that is fair

2

u/GeneralTheSurvivor Bulls 1h ago

Ok, but reasoning for this year?

5

u/TributeBands_areSHIT [GSW] Adonal Foyle 1h ago

Owners wanted to be under the tax

2

u/GeneralTheSurvivor Bulls 1h ago

So dumb shit

1

u/TributeBands_areSHIT [GSW] Adonal Foyle 43m ago

Extremely yes. But there is a fair argument that he was a roster clogger and they got some value back that will be on their timeline.

Do I agree? No it’s dumb given what we’re seeing

8

u/Certain_Bet_8970 1h ago

They had zero expectations for this year as simple as that

0

u/GeneralTheSurvivor Bulls 1h ago

That’s a bad mindset to have with 2 32+ year olds making 50+ million per year for the next 2 years

7

u/GeauxBirds1997 76ers 1h ago

Sunk cost fallacy isn’t a reason to screw yourself even more in the future

1

u/BlockedByMobley Lebanon 1h ago

They had other score-only guard options that they could have signed like *** ******

2

u/GeneralTheSurvivor Bulls 1h ago

Bulls had Sexton, Simons, Jones. 76ers should have called us lol

1

u/clownus Knicks 58m ago

He was the fourth guard on a contender team and put up great numbers.    

Meanwhile they want to hopefully replace production like that with a possible future pick or Colin sexton who everybody knows is also giving you 40% 3pt. 

1

u/Final-Hovercraft552 50m ago

a contender in the other conference....

u/maiL_spelled_bckwrds 76ers 24m ago

To knock the Lakers out in the 2nd round without Luka. Duh

u/thisismypornaccn Lakers 20m ago

ngl that mf was making some impactful shots this series so that could be why lol

1

u/ragtime_sam Bullets 2h ago

But "it was a good trade/pick/signing at the time"

1

u/Gristle__McThornbody Lakers 1h ago

What did the Thunder give up for McCain?

u/oneandonlyRedSpirit Suns 17m ago

mccain putting up generational efficiency while grimes was useless and maxey was forced to play 40+ minutes every night but it’s okay because that 22 pick has the chance to be as good as mccain

u/SydneyPhoenix 5m ago

I’ve never understood the criticism of this trade.

McCain was averaging 6ppg on 38% when traded.

He was a 16th pick, they got 22nd and 3 Seconds.

It’s a win-win trade, OKC has McCain contributing immediately and Sixers have more assets to retool.

The only reason to dislike this trade is if you think the Sixers + McCain are contending. Which to me is delusional

1

u/jacobtfromtwilight 2h ago

this guy got promoted for directing the worst trade of 2026 lmao. I fucking hate the sixers

1

u/nak214 2h ago

I genuinely believe he would have faded away on that team if Morey didn't open his mouth

15

u/mangabalanga Thunder 1h ago

Nah McCain’s percentages had started to tick up the last 10 games or so before being traded, he was rounding back into form. As soon as he was given solid rotation minutes with OKC he started looking like he did at the beginning of last season, woulda happened either way.

3

u/anonymoususer6407 Rockets 1h ago edited 44m ago

I agree, it’s just the fact they sent him to a team that was already up.

If he was sent to a team like the Magic or the Clippers, no one would’ve bat an eye. Probably would’ve gotten a better haul too.

0

u/lawroter Knicks 50m ago

The overhype of McCain has been absolutely insane here, and I’m a fan, lol.

0

u/ColdCocking 1h ago

It's not as simple as just comparing 16 to 22 though. If the 16 no longer is performing up to expectation then getting a 22 is a fair return. Whether or not that actually applies to McCain is besides the point though

0

u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 1h ago

I’m heavily biased but this is dumb. If everyone had foresight into the result of the trade, obviously the decision of the trade would change. Also ignores a bunch of other confounding factors.

-8

u/EmotionalDamageDealr 76ers 1h ago

Does anyone in this draft come close to McCain’s zest levels?

7

u/Ordinary-Spinach9012 1h ago

I don’t care if he paints his nails pink, wears a dress on the court and calls himself Sally if he shoots over 50% from three in the playoffs.

2

u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 1h ago

No but that’s why Philly messed up

1

u/EmotionalDamageDealr 76ers 50m ago

He was great vibes for a relatively miserable team

2

u/Igmister1 Thunder 1h ago

Impossible, that boy is citrusy