By Zach Ciavolella
After a hot start to his rookie campaign, injuries derailed the start to the young career of Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain. After spending the majority of last season recovering from a torn meniscus, McCain suffered a second injury, a tear in the UCL in his right thumb, which further delayed his attempted return.
After making his debut, sporting braces on both his left knee and right thumb, McCain hasn’t exactly picked up right where he left off, averaging just 6.9 points, shooting 36.2% from the field and 33.9% from three in 16 games this season. There are a few reasons for McCain’s struggles, including a prolonged absence from playing high-level basketball and the adjustment to his new braces. However, Sixers fans are growing increasingly concerned that the approach taken by Sixers head coach Nick Nurse is negatively affecting not only McCain’s recovery but also his development and effectiveness.
Justin Edwards 0-4 getting more mins than McCain 🤣 Nick Nurse you are not seeing heaven man
— Hoops Reference (@HoopsReference) December 13, 2025
Over McCain’s first six games, beginning with his season debut on Nov. 4 against the Chicago Bulls, McCain seemed to have a minutes restriction at or around 15 minutes, and only averaged 10.8 minutes per game. Over his next five games, McCain seemed increasingly comfortable with his new braces, averaging 13.8 points per game while improving his efficiency, shooting 44.8% from the field, 44.4% from three, and 83.3% from the line. During this stretch, McCain also averaged 26.6 minutes per game.
A key factor in that stretch was the absence and then recovery of rookie VJ Edgecombe, who missed the first three games of that run and was on a minutes restriction of around 25 minutes in the final two games of that stretch. Since that Dec. 2 game against the Washington Wizards, the Sixers have transformed their style, as they have seen increasing availability in both Joel Embiid and Paul George.
The return of their veteran stars and Edgecombe has enabled the Sixers to grow into a defense-oriented team, resulting in a fringe top-10 defense this season. For head coach Nick Nurse, despite early recognition as an offensive mind, he has been considered a defensive specialist during most of his time in Philadelphia.
This is where the supposed disconnect between him and McCain occurs.
Nurse has been open about favoring other players over McCain in certain situations this season. The game against the Los Angeles Lakers is a prime example. McCain missed the entire third quarter as Nurse opted to play with size, hoping to match up better against the Lakers.
The Sixers coach was asked postgame about McCain’s absence for the entire third quarter and the majority of the fourth. He cited the Lakers’ size as the primary reason why. A few days later, as the team returned to practice after a bit of time off, Nurse was asked again about Jared, more specifically about weighing the benefits of offense versus defense in such a situation.
“I remember talking about this post-game,” Nurse began. “And that was before I watched the film. And when I watched the film, and I’m sure you guys watched the game, we had several possessions in a row where they just backed us down and shot over the top of us. And until there was a way we could combat that a little bit, it wasn’t going to be with going small. So I think that influenced almost all of it.
“I think Jared is still in a situation that he’s working his way back,” Nurse continued. “I think there’s been some improvement there, but he’s still not there yet. So I think we’re still kind of going by what he looks like night-to-night right now. I don’t think it’s a big, you know. I’m hoping it gets to some, again, evening out and rhythm about who’s going to be there and what the rotations look like someday. But I’m not holding my breath for that either.”
In fairness to Nurse, while McCain saw a brief stretch of scoring success, he has struggled with his handle and mobility since returning. There is absolutely something to his comment about McCain still recovering. It is not a matter of McCain not being in shape, but rather still knocking off the rust and adjusting to life with his knee and thumb braces. It’s clear he’s growing more comfortable the more he plays, but the catch-22 of the situation is Nurse’s obligation to put the Sixers in the best position to win game by game, which he is confident he is doing.
Jared McCain had three costly turnovers in the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ win over the Warriors on Thursday. The first was an uncharacteristically bad pass; on the other two McCain struggled to handle intense ball pressure – the first of those against a well-timed double-team: pic.twitter.com/aWtOlZVSzV
— Adam Aaronson’s clips (@SixersAdamClips) December 5, 2025
As for what Nurse meant explicitly by “a big, you know,” — One could easily speculate, but it would prove a pointless errand — it may not be definitive, but it certainly seems the Sixers’ head coach is far less concerned with McCain’s minutes at this moment than those looking in from the outside. Fully confident in his decision to focus on the team’s defensive potential, McCain appears to be a casualty of strategy for the moment.
Until McCain forces Nurse’s hand with either capable defensive play or elite offensive play, it’s unlikely that there will be peace among the fan base and the Sixers’ head coach. For now, as long as Nurse remains confident that his decision is conducive to winning basketball, he is right until proven wrong, either by a rash of failure or McCain himself.