Jared McCain has not played more than 11 minutes in a game since Jan. 5. After he didn\u2019t even see the court in Friday night\u2019s 117-115 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers, many people openly wondered whether he might be better served by a G League stint with Delaware. On Saturday afternoon, the Philadelphia 76ers arrived at the same conclusion:<\/p>\n
McCain played in a couple of games with the Blue Coats back in November. At the time, he was very recently removed from coming off the injury report for a torn UCL in his right thumb. He also hadn\u2019t played an NBA game since December 2024 following meniscus surgery in his left knee, and going through a couple different brace options for that knee at the time. It made sense for him to get some game action in Delaware to assist in the proverbial ramp up so he could get back to receiving regular rotation minutes with the big club.<\/p>\n
Now we\u2019re in mid-January, and any progress has stalled, if not outright regressed. Head coach Nick Nurse is not trusting McCain with significant minutes, and in fairness, Jared has not been playing well. He is shooting just 35.4 percent on the season, including 32.3 percent from three-point range, and that\u2019s supposed to be the strong area of his game. A recent tough stretch aside, the Sixers are winning games, or at the very least having games come down to the wire, and fighting for playoff position. Nurse is in a position where he wants his best players on the floor as much as possible, and it\u2019s not as though he\u2019s hurting for guard options.<\/p>\n