Tyrese Maxey will compete in the three-point contest on Saturday at All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles, the NBA announced Sunday afternoon.
Maxey, the 76ers’ standout point guard, is one of the NBA’s most dangerous three-point shooters, connecting on 38.2% of his 8.8 attempts per game. That effectiveness from deep has contributed to Maxey entering Sunday ranked sixth in the NBA in scoring at 28.8 points per game.
The three-point contest is part of the All-Star Saturday festivities. The other three-point contest participants are the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker, the Charlotte Hornets’ Kon Kneuppel, the Portland Trail Blazers’ Damian Lillard, the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell, the Denver Nuggets’ Jamal Murray, the Milwaukee Bucks’ Bobby Portis, and the Miami Heat’s Norman Powell.
Maxey is also an Eastern Conference starter for the All-Star Game next Sunday. Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe will play in the Rising Stars competition on Friday.
PHOENIX — Trendon Watford wanted everybody to know that he believes he beat the shot clock on his swooping right-wing three-point attempt, which he launched off a high-arcing inbound pass from the opposite corner by Tyrese Maxey.
Forget that the fourth-quarter basket was overturned by an official review minutes later.
“Go back and watch that,” the reserve forward said from his locker. “I’m about 95% sure I got that off at 0.1 [seconds]. Approximately 0.2. But hey, 76ers win. It’s OK.”
That ruling took three points off Watford’s stat line in the 76ers’ 109-103 victory over the Suns on Saturday night at Mortgage Matchup Center. At first glance, Watford’s six points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks are not exactly staggering. The eye test, though, recognized Watford’s impact as a complementary ballhandler, offensive connector, and hustle player inserted into the closing lineup for the 30-22 Sixers.
Watford is showcasing that versatile skill set during a crucial stretch of the schedule, with playmaking wing Paul George serving a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy and reserve guards Jared McCain and Eric Gordon traded away at the deadline last week.
“He just knows how to play the game,” star center Joel Embiid said of Watford. “Very unselfish. Willing to make the right cuts. Whether it’s get our teammates open [or] get a shot, it comes down to [he is an] extremely smart basketball player and he does all the little things.”
Before Saturday’s game, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said it was still “early days” in evaluating Watford, whose first season in Philly had been interrupted by hamstring and thigh injuries. Although Watford did record a triple-double in a November win over the Toronto Raptors, Nurse was still curious about the types of opposing players Watford could guard and how much he could help with rebounding. He has averaged 6 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 16 minutes across 30 games.
After Saturday’s victory, however, Nurse praised Watford’s ability to both bring the ball up the floor like a lead guard and post up like a big man.
“Can kind of go from one extreme to the other on offense,” Nurse said.
Trendon Watford will be counted on for ballhandling and rebounding as the Sixers recover from losing three players.
Watford was the first Sixer off the bench Saturday, and eventually became a direct substitution for guard VJ Edgecombe. In the first quarter, Watford put the ball on the floor and slung a pass to Maxey for a three-pointer that rattled through the rim. Later, Watford set a screen for Embiid, rolled into space, and then found a cutting Dominick Barlow for an and-one layup. Watford then got out in transition to take a feed from Maxey for the layup. Watford also grabbed a rebound and initiated the offense, then backed down the Suns’ Jordan Goodwin in the paint and drew the foul.
Then came two highlight sequences that official reviews erased.
With less than six minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Watford drove past his defender and through contact for what was initially ruled an old-fashioned three-point play. Maxey yelled in celebration and held up his curved arm in a layup pose while waiting to check back into the game. But a coach’s challenge changed the call to an offensive foul on Watford, saying he pushed off with his opposite arm.
Watford’s wild end-of-shot-clock three-pointer came about a minute later, which a review later determined had not left his fingertips in time. Just after that second dash of disappointment, though, Watford sank a driving floater that put the Sixers up, 96-86, with 2 minutes, 56 seconds to go.
The performance was quite the turnaround from when Watford first returned from missing more than a month with an adductor injury in his thigh — and acknowledged he needed to earn his way into consistent playing time. In his first 13 games back, Watford played single-digit minutes six times. He was completely out of the rotation as recently as last Thursday’s home victory over the Sacramento Kings.
Yet even when Watford “wasn’t the most happy” about his role, Maxey assured him that, on teams vying for playoff positioning, rotations will fluctuate throughout the season.
“You’ve got to be ready,” Maxey told Watford. “Your number will be called. It’s inevitable. And you need everybody to win games, especially throughout the regular season.”
Watford has played double-digit minutes in all five games since George’s suspension began, including while totaling 16 points and eight rebounds in Tuesday’s victory at the Golden State Warriors. Maxey said Watford’s presence gives the Sixers their first ball-movement “connector” since Nico Batum during the 2023-24 season. Watford added that he does not feel any additional pressure as a 6-foot-8 ballhandler and playmaker because “I’m comfortable doing it, and I feel it’s a strong part of my game.”
Playing alongside Maxey, a close friend since they were high schoolers, has been “easy,” Watford said. He now feels chemistry building with Embiid, whom he can complement with his passing and floor-spacing.
“We’ve just got to get him to play some defense,” Maxey quipped about Watford, “and then we’ll be all right.”
Yet with the Sixers’ roster reshuffled again during the past week, Watford is carving out a necessary niche. Even if official reviews wiped away his two highlight buckets in Saturday’s road victory.
“Even if I’m not going to play 27 minutes like [Saturday], approach it like I am,” Watford said. “And just try to stay dialed inasmuch as I can. You never know what the game might bring and what the coaches might need.
“That’s been my approach, and control what I can control.”
Daryl Morey tried his best during Friday’s 28-minute press conference to convince people that trading Jared McCain was good for the 76ers.
But the Sixers president of basketball operations could have spoken for 28 days, and it wouldn’t have changed folks’ minds that this deal was made to save money.
No matter how much Morey and the organization preach positivity, the Sixers did not get better by trading the second-year guard to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 first-round pick and three second-rounders. They may have actually gotten fleeced by Sam Presti, the Thunder executive vice president and general manager.
Based on their tendency to win deals, Presti and Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge are the two executives you don’t want to trade with. And the fact that Presti surrendered a first-rounder — something he hasn’t done since 2015 — reveals that he sees something special in McCain.
This trade has the potential to be one that the Sixers will regret in a few seasons.
The 6-foot-3, 195-pounder received a standing ovation while checking into the game during his Thunder debut on Saturday in Oklahoma City. He finished with five points, two rebounds, and one assist while a plus-12 in 13 minutes, 56 seconds during the 112-106 loss to the Houston Rockets at Paycom Center.
These are reasons why Sixers fans are up in arms over this move, and see it for what it is: a way to get under the luxury tax threshold for a fourth consecutive season.
But give Morey credit for trying to sell the trade to the media and Sixers fans.
The team will receive the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick, which is expected to be a late first-rounder. One of the second-rounders is the most favorable 2027 pick from the Thunder, Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and the Miami Heat. The other second-rounders are 2028 picks that previously belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks and Thunder.
Daryl Morey speaks at the team’s NBA training facility on Friday.
“Sort of the whole tell with people who don’t like the deal is they’ll leave off the return, minimize this draft, which we think is good, and things like that …,” Morey said. “That return is for a starter-quality player on a good team. It’s actually above that.”
Morey added that the Sixers tried to trade those draft picks for an impactful addition at the deadline. He also thinks they could use them as tradable assets to move around in the draft.
Morey did say that McCain has the potential to be a great player. He even noted that the Sixers wish the 21-year-old good luck. Morey added that they feel the returns for McCain put them in a better position for the future.
But what if they can’t swap those picks for the standout player Morey envisions?
Will people think back to when the Sixers traded Matisse Thybulle as part of a four-team trade on Feb. 9, 2023, that helped them get under the luxury tax?
Welcome to OKC, Jared McCain!
He receives a warm welcome as he checks into his first game for the Thunder ⛈️
The team acquired Jalen McDaniels from the Charlotte Hornets in that deal.
“A big theme of our season this year was to prepare for the playoffs, and win a championship as you guys know,” Morey said then. “We wanted to make sure we gave [coach Doc Rivers] as many two-way players as possible.
“And we think Jalen is one of the up-and-coming solid defenders, somebody that’s a little easier to keep on the floor in a lot of matchups.”
The problem is that McDaniels gradually found himself out of the rotation during the Sixers’ second-round playoff series loss to the Boston Celtics.
The 6-9 small forward signed with the Toronto Raptors on July 6, 2023, after the Sixers only offered him a minimum-salary contract to remain with the team in free agency.
Unable to find his footing with several other teams, McDaniels is out of the league.
The Sixers traded guard Jared McCain for a first-round pick and three second-rounders to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
There’s also some uncertainty surrounding the type of players the Sixers could get with the picks acquired from OKC, assuming they keep them.
While there are some exceptions, with Sixers two-time All-Star Tyrese Maxey (21st pick in 2020) being one of them, late first-rounders and second-rounders often have brief NBA careers. And very few of those players become stars, and even fewer become value rotation players.
Yet, McCain, whom the Sixers selected 16th in the 2024 draft, averaged 10 points and made 38.1% of his three-pointers in 60 career games with the Sixers.
He was the 2024-25 Rookie of the Year front-runner before suffering a season-ending torn meniscus in his left knee in December 2024.
Despite playing in just 23 games last season, McCain finished tied for seventh in the Rookie of the Year voting. He was awarded a third-place vote from the media panel of 100 voters.
That’s because McCain put the league on notice by averaging 15.3 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists last season. He also shot 46% from the field, including 38.3% from three. The California native joined Hall of Famer Allen Iverson as the only Sixers rookies to average at least 15 points and two made three-pointers.
In addition to last season being cut short, the start of this season was delayed after he suffered a torn ligament in his right thumb in September.
While returning from the injuries, McCain struggled with consistency this season, leaving him out of the rotation at times. He averaged just 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 1.7 assists while shooting 37.8% on three-pointers in 37 games this season.
But once a player returns from a major knee injury, it can take up to an additional five or six months to regain his old form.
Daryl Morey said “time will tell” if it was the right move to trade McCain for picks.
With that, the expectation was that we would start seeing flashes of the old McCain at the end of this season. Even if they felt strongly about trading him, one would have thought his value would have been higher this summer when he’d be back to his old self.
Morey didn’t see it that way.
“I’m quite confident we were selling high,” he said. “Obviously, time will tell. We weren’t looking to sell. I’ll be frank. Teams came to us with aggressive offers for him. You could say, ‘Yeah, that’s because he’s a good player.’ I agree with that. We thought this return was above, for the future value of our franchise, what we could get. The only higher point would’ve been during his run last season. Otherwise, we feel like we did time this well.”
The thing is, however, the Sixers will have a tough time convincing people that trading McCain isn’t a move to duck the luxury tax for the fourth consecutive season.
The 76ers need to keep playing a heady brand of basketball.
Tyrese Maxey is unguardable when in his bag of tricks.
And so far, Paul George’s absence hasn’t had a major impact on the outcomes of games.
These things stood out in Saturday’s 109-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center.
With the win, the Sixers improved to 30-22 and evened the two-game season series against the Suns (31-22). They’re also 3-1 in the first four games of their five-game West Coast road trip, which concludes on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center.
Solid brand of basketball
The Sixers had effective ball movement against the Suns. They also attacked the basket, crashed the boards, and played at a much faster pace than in recent games.
In addition to doing those things, they didn’t back down from Phoenix’s physicality or Dillon Brooks’ antics. Kelly Oubre Jr. got in the face of his former roommate and high school teammate at Findlay Prep (Nevada) after Brooks flopped on a play.
Before that, Joel Embiid and Devin Booker exchanged words at the conclusion of the first half. And there were other heated exchanges.
Joel Embiid (21), who led with a game-high 33-point effort, gets fouled by Suns guard Jordan Goodwin in the first half of Saturday’s game.
The Sixers didn’t match the physicality of the Detroit Pistons and Cleveland Cavaliers earlier this season. So seeing them fight back and play with an edge against the Suns was a great sign.
“We stayed professional,” Maxey said to the media. “We didn’t let all the rah rah stuff affect us. We got physical back, and that’s good. That happens, and we can take that.”
Maxey said he could anticipate the Suns’ antics. With the Sixers up 16 points in the second quarter, he knew Phoenix would resort to something.
“Any good team or any team that’s playing for something, they’re not going to let you steamroll them. They’re not going to lay down. They are going to go out there and try to put up a fight. And sometimes that’s what has to come with it. You have to get more physical, and you have to sustain that lead. And we did a good job of that.”
The Sixers had a 50-40 rebounding advantage. They scored 34 points in the paint and held the Suns to 23.9% three-point shooting.
Embiid finished with 33 points, nine rebounds, three assists, and one block. Maxey finished with 29 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and one steal, while Oubre added 18 points, six rebounds, and two steals.
Maxey had a slow start, missing his first three shot attempts. But after that, the two-time All-Star was close to unstoppable.
Unable to keep him in front of them, the Suns’ defenders were helpless. The point guard drained a couple of his three-pointers. He scored on a post-up. And Maxey played through contact on his way to the rim. Fourteen of his points came in the first half.
“We just played fast that group that I was in there with,” Maxey said regarding the first half. “Got rebounds, got stops, and got out and ran, trying to make sure everybody touched the ball, everybody involved, and it was good.”
Maxey missed his first three shots in the second half. But after settling down, the Suns, once again, had a tough time guarding him.
Making 8 of 9 foul shots, the sixth-year player scored 13 of his points in the fourth quarter. His last two with 11.8 seconds remaining gave the Sixers their six-point cushion.
The Sixers are a better team with George on the floor. The nine-time All-Star is a solid facilitator and one of their best defenders. As a result, there was a thought that the team would struggle while he serves a 25-game suspension for violating the NBA’s Anti-Drug Program.
So far, that hasn’t been the case.
The Sixers are 4-1 in the first five games without the 6-8 forward. Their lone loss was Thursday’s 119-115 setback to the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena.
Different players stepped up to help Embiid and Maxey in each of their victories. On Saturday, it was Trendon Watford in addition to Oubre.
“He’s become a little more important now [what] the roster is,” said Sixers coach Nick Nurse. “If one of those guys gets in foul trouble, he’s got to kind of be another ball handler. I thought he did a good job.
“He’s starting to show a little bit of element of some toughness, kind of standing up to [the Suns with] some of his physicality out there.”
Watford finished with six points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.
While he didn’t score a lot of points, the reserve point forward displayed a lot of toughness and did a lot of intangible things. Being impactful, Watford played the entire fourth quarter. That’s when he had four points, four rebounds, and two blocks.
“The big thing for us is he can handle the ball,” Maxey said of his close friend. “He’s a connector. We needed that for a long time. Nico [Batum during the 2023-24 season] was probably the last [point forward] we had. But he doesn’t handle the ball as much as TY does. So he does a good job of handling the ball. He can play pick-and-roll. He can post, get a bucket down there in the post. We just got to get him to play some defense, then we will be alright.”
The NBA trade deadline sparked movement among Eastern Conference contenders.
James Harden was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nikola Vučević landed with the Boston Celtics. The Detroit Pistons added Kevin Huerter and Dario Šarić. And the New York Knicks acquired Jose Alvarado.
All these moves were made to bolster those teams’ championship chances.
Anyone expecting to see the sixth-seeded 76ers do the same were let down. In fact, star center Joel Embiid might have been among them after he expressed hope that the front office would avoid “ducking the tax” and instead focus on strengthening the roster to compete.
Still, Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey didn’t make any deals that netted a player. Instead, they traded Jared McCain and Eric Gordon in exchange for draft picks in what was viewed as an avenue to get under the luxury tax threshold for the fourth consecutive season.
Morey spoke on Friday as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned about the rest of the conference’s attempts to improve on the margins.
“We like our chances in the East,” Morey said. “We feel like we’re in the mix with the top teams there. Obviously, we’ve got to prove that on the court. But, just reiterating, we were looking to add, and we didn’t add. But we still believe in this team. … Folks have speculated on the improvements of our East competitors. I don’t see it, personally. I think all the teams made moves at the deadline, but there weren’t any needle-movers, in my opinion.”
Pressed about his no “needle-movers” comment, Morey was reminded that Harden’s migration to Cleveland from the Los Angeles Clippers is regarded as a blockbuster deal. Does he believe that the Cavaliers trading for Harden, who is familiar with from stints together with the Sixer Houston Rockets, doesn’t move the needle?
“I don’t want to talk about specific teams,” Morey said. “I’m just saying, I mean, objectively, teams in the East, the array is similar. Like, if you were to look at teams’ chances before and after — that’s my opinion. I think people can have differences of opinion.”
Former Sixer James Harden is coming back to the East as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
That said, Morey understands the disappointment among Sixers fans who have witnessed him make moves to duck below the tax threshold for several years at the trade deadline. This gives the impression that saving money for managing partner Josh Harris is more critical than contending for a title. The team comes off looking cheap, especially as Embiid’s championship window continues to shrink.
“I’d say we were trying to add to the team and we didn’t find a deal that made sense that we thought could move the needle on our ability to win this year,” he said. “The CBA pressures were felt up and down the league.”
Morey said the Sixers traded Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday in exchange for a 2032 second-round pick swap to create space to convert Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to a standard NBA deal.
According to Spotrac, the team is now $1.7 million below the tax level. The Sixers also have $3.9 million in cap space under the first apron. Morey said that because of the first apron, they had to move to create that opportunity for Barlow.
“But that wasn’t the primary reason for the Jared deal,” he said. “We see Jared as somebody that’s more likely to help a team in the future.”
Yet the Sixers shipped him to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday in exchange for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-round selections. One of the second-rounders is the most favorable 2027 pick from the Thunder, Rockets, Indiana Pacers, and the Miami Heat. The other second-rounders are 2028 picks that previously belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks and Thunder.
In June, Morey expressed confidence in the Sixers’ deep and versatile backcourt rotation of Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Quentin Grimes, and McCain. He likened it to the guard-heavy style used by the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers to reach last season’s NBA Finals.
Sixers president Daryl Morey believes former guard Jared McCain has a chance to be a good player in the future.
McCain was exceptional in his rookie season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in December 2024. But he struggled with consistency this season, leaving him out of the rotation.
Did the Sixers lose faith in the second-year guard?
“I wouldn’t say that. No,” Morey said. “I think he has a tremendous future. Sort of the whole thing with people who don’t like the deal is they’ll leave off the return, minimize this draft, which we think is good, and things like that. … That return is for a starter-quality player on a good team. It’s actually above that. We do a lot of analysis on how we think things will play out both here and around the league going forward, in terms of the quality of play. What kinds of returns will there be for what players in the future?
“And the bottom line is, Jared is a player who’s a great future bet and a potential great player. We wish him luck. We feel that this returns sets us up better to set up the team in the future.”
While it’s not a primary focus, the Sixers think the first-round pick can be used to make moves around the upcoming draft. Morey also believes they can use the three second-rounders to move up the draft.
But that doesn’t address the team’s needs for the remainder of the season. They offered the picks they received from OKC to other teams.
“Nothing materialized for a player that we thought could move the needle with those picks now,” Morey said. “But we feel like going forward, those picks will help us build the team in the future in a good way.”
Sixers guard Eric Gordon during warm ups before the Sixers played the New York Knicks on Saturday, January 24, 2026 in Philadelphia.
While Morey mentioned that he had authorization to go over the tax, this was the fourth straight year that the Sixers made moves to get under the luxury tax, even after Embiid’s comments.
“I understand the perception,” Morey said. “I hope to defeat it by finding a deal that I can go to ownership and say, ‘We think this move is the right move to do for that and create those apron issues.’ But I haven’t been able to recommend that move yet.”
At this moment, however, Morey wants to talk about the solid players that the Sixers currently have on the roster.
He’ll remind you that Embiid is rounding into form. Morey will mention that Maxey took a leap to becoming an All-Star starter. And he’ll tell you that Kelly Oubre Jr. is playing the best basketball of his career.
“We love the bigs we have with Joel, [Andre Drummond and Adem] Bona,“ he said. ”We feel like guys are contributing up and down the roster. Coach [Nick] Nurse has done a tremendous job putting us in with the top few teams in the East in terms of how we’re playing. So that’s why we understand the fan reaction. Obviously, the big move was with Jared. Because we’re playing well, we were trying to upgrade the team and add to the team now. That was goal No 1.”
LOS ANGELES — While on the 76ers’ bus heading to the San Francisco airport Wednesday morning, Jared McCain approached his teammates to reveal that he had been traded.
“It was just like, ‘All right, whatever. He’s just joking,’” All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey recalled. “Calls start coming in, and then you realize it’s real.”
That is the human side of the trade deadline, which takes a backseat to the business focuses of asset acquisition, luxury tax ducking, and trying to enhance (or tear down) a roster for the stretch run and playoffs.
The record will show that the second-year guard was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 first-round pick and other draft compensation. Yet the Sixers abruptly lost a teammate in the middle of a five-game Western Conference road trip more than three months into the regular season. McCain, a fan favorite, also was popular inside the Sixers’ locker room, as somebody who brought positive vibes whether he was enjoying a breakout start to his rookie season or struggling to regain form following knee and thumb surgeries.
“It’s a harsh business and I know you have to try to take emotions out of it,” starting forward Dominick Barlow said of McCain, on the same day his two-way contract was converted to a standard deal. “But it’s kind of difficult. … It was a hard day.”
Maxey was the first Sixers to speak publicly about McCain’s “emotional” departure, calling him his “little brother.”
Jared McCain and Tyrese Maxey looked like the Sixers’ backcourt of the future only one year ago.
The 25-year-old “veteran” in this relationship was quickly taken by McCain’s combination of personality and diligence to his craft, saying that “anybody that worked that hard, for me, is going to be somebody that I probably gravitate to.” When Paul George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy, Maxey called McCain to encourage him to seize the opportunity. And Maxey said last Saturday that he was proud of how McCain had “fought his way out of a little funk” in his comeback from injury, shooting 15-of-26 from three-point range in his final six games before being traded.
Also hit particularly hard by the news were Justin Edwards and Adem Bona, who also were part of McCain’s 2024-25 rookie class.
Edwards has known McCain since they were roommates as teenagers at Steph Curry’s basketball camp. He said McCain has “always been the same person, honestly” (and “more than just a TikToker,” Edwards emphasized to The Inquirer). Even after the Sixers’ loss at the Los Angeles Lakers more than 24 hours later, Bona was “still processing” an “unreal” day.
“It’s kind of hard to understand,” Bona told The Inquirer, “but it’s part of the business.”
Once teammates grasped that McCain was leaving, they tried to “make him laugh, even though it’s a tough situation,” Edwards said. Coach Nick Nurse briefly spoke to McCain as he got off the bus, assuring the 21-year-old that he would be successful with the Thunder. Another member of the traveling party told The Inquirer that McCain shed tears on the tarmac before the Sixers boarded their flight to Los Angeles.
“Obviously developed enough of a relationship that I care about him and wish him a lot of luck,” Nurse said before Thursday’s game at the Lakers. “ … Then I kind of move on, because there was a lot of people wanting to talk to him.”
The emotions hit Maxey again when he woke up for Thursday’s shootaround, realizing he would not see “JMac” downstairs at the team hotel. Bona had a similar reaction when he and rookie VJ Edgecombe went to perform a silly pregame ritual of attempting to juggle the basketball, and McCain was not there to join them as usual. Ditto for when it was time for pregame chapel — a staple for several of the Sixers’ younger players — and it felt like the group “wasn’t complete” without McCain, Bona said. McCain would often round up his teammates whenever they lost track of time.
“Tonight I looked up,” Bona said, “and I’m like, ‘Ah, Jared would have called me right now.’ But he wasn’t here to call me.”
Sixers players Jared McCain and Adem Bona developed a deep bond as members of the same draft class.
By tipoff against the Lakers, however, the Sixers needed to move forward with the players still on the roster. Maxey and star center Joel Embiid encouraged McCain to use being traded as a fresh start with the defending NBA champions. They will all reunite on March 23, when the Thunder visit Philly.
Still, Maxey leaned into the human side of the trade deadline, acknowledging that “a lot of people in this organization were sad to see [McCain] go.”
“He’s got a fan in me for life,” Maxey said. “A brother in me for life.”
The NBA trade deadline produced a frenzy of deals around the league, but the dust has finally settled. The 76ers were one of the least active teams at the deadline, only making two trades before 3 p.m. on Thursday. However, one of those trades garnered plenty of reaction.
Guard Jared McCain won Sixers fans over as a rookie in 2024-25 as he was a rare bright spot in an otherwise trying season. The 16th overall pick out of Duke averaged 15.3 points across 23 contests before a torn meniscus in his right knee ended his season.
McCain struggled to find his footing this season. He missed the first six games and made his season debut against the Chicago Bulls on Nov. 4, where he missed all four of his shots. However, he did show flashes of his rookie self, including scoring 17 points on 6 of 8 shooting against the Milwaukee Bucks on Jan. 27.
But with the Sixers searching for roster flexibility and a way to duck under the luxury tax, they decided to trade McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick and three second-round picks.
The Sixers also moved on from guard Eric Gordon, who played in just six games, along with a 2032 second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The trades cleared a roster spot for Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to be converted to a standard contract.
Here are how some of the national media outlets are grading the Sixers’ moves.
ESPN: B+/B
ESPN gave the Sixers a B+ for the McCain trade as they accomplished multiple logistical goals with the move. The trade got the the team below the luxury tax line, cleared a roster spot to convert Barlow’s contract, and gave them future flexibility to re-sign guard Quentin Grimes. The Thunder received the same grade on their end of the deal.
“After adding VJ Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes to All-Star Tyrese Maxey in the past year, Philadelphia’s roster got crowded, part of the reason McCain hasn’t played many minutes this season,” wrote Kevin Pelton. “Turning McCain into draft picks not only gets Philadelphia below the luxury tax line but probably makes it easier to make additional deals, whether before Thursday’s trade deadline or this offseason.”
Tyrese Maxey (0) walks up the court against the Los Angeles Clippers on Feb. 2.
ESPN graded the Gordon move as a B, as he had not made much of an impact on the court this year. The veteran has not played since Christmas and has played 74 total minutes this season. The Sixers now have three open roster spots after the trade, giving them plenty of room to convert two-way deals or sign a free agent.
The Athletic: B
Zach Harper of The Athletic was much more fond of the McCain trade from the Thunder’s point of view as opposed to the Sixers. He gave the Sixers a B for moving on from McCain in year two while Oklahoma City got an A for adding a potentially valuable bench player with two and a half years of control.
“The good news is the Sixers are good now, so they didn’t need him nearly as much to play well. If he can’t be the player we saw in his rookie season, then that Houston pick should be pretty easy to use to replace him,” Harper wrote. “If he can be that player again, then Philadelphia doing this to not pay the luxury tax in a decent season makes nailing that Houston pick pretty big.”
Yahoo! Sports: B-
Morton Stig Jensen of Yahoo! Sports was critical of general manager Daryl Morey’s decision to trade McCain and praised Thunder general manager Sam Presti. Jensen gave the Sixers a B- for getting below the luxury tax, but described it as a “pity grade.” He gave Oklahoma City an A+ for filling its need for floor spacing.
“Trading away young, cheap pieces, when you have that much money tied up in Joel Embiid and Paul George is just not a position they want to be in,” Jensen wrote. “So this is all about the finances, which is both boring and discouraging.”
“So, sure, Philly, congrats on avoiding the tax bill, I guess.”
Joel Embiid celebrates after scoring and drawing a foul against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday.
Sports Illustrated: C
Austin Krell of Sports Illustrated gave the Sixers a C. He also looked at the deal as a win for them from the financial side, but a big risk for giving up on McCain’s upside. The Thunder received a B for getting another shooter in their push for back-to-back championships.
“This seems like a clear indication that the Sixers viewed McCain as someone whose stock would drop if they kept him,” Krell wrote. “If we want to look at it from a financial perspective, he’s maybe the only player you could’ve moved that would’ve accomplished the goal of dodging the luxury tax while also netting actual assets in return.”
Joel Embiid with teammates Tyrese Maxey and Paul George.
One factor complicating any deal at the trade deadline was Daryl Morey and the front office considered the team’s core – Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George, and rookie VJ Edgecombe – “as close to untouchable players as you might have in this league.”
“We really think it’s a very good core,” Morey told reporters Friday. “Obviously we need to prove that on the court, and I think we think lately we have been proving it to a higher level.”
Morey said at the trade deadline, the Sixers were focused on finding a player who could fill in for Paul, who is serving a 25-day suspension for violating the league’s drug policy. But Morey didn’t see any available players that could contribute more than Dominick Barlow has during Paul’s absence.
Sixers were willing to go into the luxury tax, Morey says
The Sixers moved under the luxury tax by trading away Jared McCain and Eric Gordon, but Daryl Morey said that wasn’t the primary reason behind the moves.
Speaking to reporters Friday, Morey said the team would’ve been willing to go above the luxury tax threshold – “We’ve done it several times” – but didn’t see a deal or player that justified the numbers.
“For sure, if we had found a trade and were going to end up higher, we’d have ended up above it,” Morey said.
Despite that, Morey said he understands the perception among fans and even Joel Embiid the team just wanted to save money.
“I hope to defeat it by finding a deal that I can go to ownership and say, ‘We think this move is the right move to do for that and create the apron issues that it would create,’” Morey said. “But I haven’t been able to recommend that move yet.”
Morey defends trading Jared McCain without another deal in place
Daryl Morey was pressed on why the Sixers traded Jared McCain without having another deal in place, rather than waiting until the offseason.
“I am quite confident we were selling high,” Morey told reporters Friday. “Obviously, time will tell.”
Morey said the Sixers weren’t considering trading away McCain until teams approached with “aggressive offers,” and that the draft picks will help the team down the road.
“We thought this return was above the future value for our franchise,” Morey said. “The only higher point would have been during his run last season. But otherwise, we feel like we did time this well.”
“The bottom line is Jared’s a great future bet, and we wish him luck,” Morey added. “We feel like this return sets us up better in the future.”
Sixers tried to improve the roster but ‘nothing materialized,’ Morey says
Speaking to reporters Friday, Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, said he understands why fans might be disappointed the team didn’t add any players at the trade deadline.
“I understand the reaction of the fans, but I feel like that comes from folks being excited about this team,” Morey said. “That’s why we had this reaction. And they should be excited.”
Morey said the front office tried to make additions to improve the team using some of the draft picks landed in the Jared McCain trade, but “nothing materialized.”
“I do want folks to know that this team, we think, can make a deep playoff run, as one of the top teams in the East,” Morey said.
Timberwolves re-signing Mike Conley Jr. after trading him: ESPN
Free agent guard Mike Conley Jr. plans to return to the Minnesota Timberwolves, sources tell ESPN. The sides are working on timing of him re-signing. Conley was traded twice this week – to Chicago, then to Charlotte – before being released and allowed to rejoin the Wolves. pic.twitter.com/ht6HVIIqm4
Joel Embiid defends the rim against Deandre Ayton during the Sixers’ loss to the Lakers Thursday.
With three games left before the All-Star break, the Sixers are in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, solidly in the playoff picture after missing the postseason last season.
Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers certainly didn’t help, breaking a five-game winning streak. They’ll face the second-place New York Knicks on Wednesday, who added former New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado to their roster at the NBA trade deadline.
Eastern Conference standings
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Upcoming Sixers schedule
Sixers at Suns: Saturday, 9 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Sixers at Trailblazers: Monday, 10 p.m. (NBC Sports Philadelphia, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Knicks at Sixers: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. (ESPN, 97.5 The Fanatic)
Daryl Morey will speak to reporters Friday following the NBA trade deadline.
Daryl Morey, the Sixers’ president of basketball operations, will speak to reporters Friday afternoon after the team made no additions at the NBA trade deadline, not even to fill in during Paul George’s 25-game suspension.
Morey is scheduled to speak at noon at the Sixers’ training facility in Camden, N.J.
On Thursday, the Sixers traded Eric Gordon to the Memphis Grizzlies in a salary dump. Wednesday they parted ways with Jared McCain, the 2024 No. 16 overall pick. In exchange, team landed a bunch of second-round picks and the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first-round pick.
They did manage to dodge the luxury tax by shedding McCain and Gordon’s salaries.
Joel Embiid carefully comments on Sixers trade deadline moves
Joel Embiid during Thursday night’s loss to the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES — When asked to assess the 76ers’ approach and execution at the trade deadline, Joel Embiid kept his words politically correct.
But his multiple pauses to look to his right at a team public relations staffer observing his postgame media session — not out of nervousness, but as if this was the way he could make his desired point — spoke volumes.
“The only thing I’ll say, I believe in myself,” Embiid said late Thursday, after the Sixers dealt guards Jared McCain and Eric Gordon and did not add any players. “I believe in Tyrese [Maxey]. I believe in everybody in this locker room. But the main thing is I believe in myself.
“So no matter what, we’re going to go out there and compete and still try to win it.”
Those comments came exactly one week after Embiid said publicly that he hoped the Sixers (29-22) would not make moves purely to duck the luxury tax and would instead try to bolster a roster that, after Thursday’s 119-115 loss at the Los Angeles Lakers, sat in sixth place in a crowded Eastern Conference.
“Hopefully, we keep the same team,” Embiid said then. “ … We’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room and the vibes are great. … Hopefully, we think about improving, because we have a chance.”
When those previous comments were referenced to Embiid following Thursday’s game, the standout center coyly quipped, “I don’t remember what I said.”
Sixers fans will have to wait and see after a uninspiring trade deadline.
The shaping of the 76ers took a step backward this week … perhaps just momentarily.
The team moved on from Jared McCain, a fan favorite and 2025 Rookie of the Year front-runner, and seldom-used veteran guard Eric Gordon before Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline. In return, the Sixers acquired a first-round pick, three second-rounders, and a second-round pick swap.
Shedding those players’ salaries gives the Sixers just over $7.6 million in cap space under the first apron. That means they can sign players on the buyout market in addition to using up to $8 million in a trade exception to acquire a player.
After the deadline, the Sixers signed forward Patrick Baldwin to a 10-day contract and center Charles Bassey to his second 10-day stint, giving the Sixers 14 standard contracts. And 48 minutes before Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the team announced it converted starting power forward Dominick Barlow’s two-way contract to a standard deal.
That enabled Barlow remain active for the remainder of the season.
But for now, they’re not in a good situation.
The buyout market could be key for the Sixers if they don’t sign Baldwin and Bassey for the remainder of the season.
Since then, the Sixers traded away players who were well-liked in the locker room for what on the surface appear to be moves to help them get below the luxury tax threshold.
But it’s still too early to fully judge the moves that were made.
McCain was exceptional in his rookie season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in December 2024. But he struggled with consistency this season, leaving him out of the rotation. Gordon played in only six games, with his last appearance coming Dec. 23 against the Brooklyn Nets.
So these moves were made on the margins and will only be crystalized once we see how they affect the roster this season and what they do with their draft picks in the future.
But in the interim, the Sixers got a little worse over two days while several contenders in the East improved.
Jared McCain, the Sixers’ 2024 first-round pick, was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Sixers president Daryl Morey is scheduled to meet with the media on Friday, so we’ll have to wait to hear the official defense of the team’s decision to trade 2024 first-round pick Jared McCain to the Thunder for what is most likely to be a low-value first round draft (plus the obligatory smattering of second round picks). We don’t have to wait to judge the optics of the thing.
The optics are poor, and will remain true even if the thing ends up making more sense than we can immediately glean.
The Sixers didn’t trade McCain for a player who is more likely to help them contend for championship, be it this year or beyond. They didn’t trade him for a pick that they then flipped for a player who can help them capitalize on their momentum this season. Everywhere else, teams got better, and many of them did so in ways beyond this season. The Timberwolves can re-sign Ayo Dosunmu. The Pacers can pair Ivica Zubac with Tyrese Haliburton next season. The Sixers can hope that a late first round pick is worth something in June.
A good way to judge the optics of a move is to attempt to write an executive summary of it in as favorable a way as possible. That’s an extraordinarily difficult task, in this case.
The Sixers just traded away a guy who they drafted at No. 16 barely a year-and-a-half ago and who would probably be drafted higher in a redo. In exchange, they received a pick that currently projects as the No. 24 pick in the 2026 draft, three picks later than where the Sixers grabbed Tyrese Maxey six years ago. It is a range of the draft that rarely yields starters, let alone stars. It is a range where the odds say you are more likely to draft a player who never cracks a first-division rotation than one who becomes a meaningful starter.
Just look at the track record. Of the 42 players drafted with the last seven picks of the first round since 2020, only 17 have started more than 17 NBA games. Just eyeballing it, you’d be hard-pressed to identify 10 of those 42 who’ve turned out to be better than the median potential outcome of even this year’s version of McCain. Jaden McDaniels and Desmond Bane are stars. They are followed by Payton Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes and Santi Aldama. Beyond that: Peyton Watson and Cam Thomas, and then Bones Hyland, Day’Ron Sharpe, Nikola Jovic and Kyshawn George. You get the picture.
A week ago, Joel Embiid decided to spend a little bit of the organizational capital he reaccrued in recent months. In response to a question about the Sixers’ approach to the upcoming NBA trade deadline, Embiid pointedly expressed his hope that the team would be looking to add talent rather than cut costs.
“Obviously, we’ve been ducking the tax past couple of years, so hopefully, we’ll keep the same team,” Embiid said. “I love all the guys that are here. I think we got a shot.
I don’t know what they’re going to do, but I hope we get a chance to just go out and compete because we’ve got a good group of guys in this locker room. The vibes are great. Like I said, in the past we’ve been, I guess, ducking the tax, so hopefully, we think about improving because I think we have a chance.”
Embiid was surprisingly — some might say ungraciously — candid in noting the Sixers’ recent prioritization of shedding salary at the trade deadline to avoid paying the NBA’s luxury tax (and, thereby, to receive a share of the pooled taxpayer dollars). But he also was prescient, and unfortunately so.
Sixers president Daryl Morey is scheduled to meet with the media on Friday, so we’ll have to wait to hear the official defense of the team’s decision to trade 2024 first-round pick Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for what most likely will be a low-value first-rounder (plus the obligatory smattering of second-round picks). We don’t have to wait to judge the optics of the thing.
The optics are poor, and that will remain true even if the thing ends up making more sense than we can immediately glean. The Sixers didn’t trade McCain for a player who is more likely to help them contend for a championship, be it this year or beyond. They didn’t trade him for a pick that they then flipped for a player who can help them capitalize on their momentum this season. Everywhere else, teams got better, and many of them did so in ways beyond this season. The Minnesota Timberwolves can re-sign Ayo Dosunmu. The Indiana Pacers can pair Ivica Zubac with Tyrese Haliburton next season. The Sixers can hope a late first-round pick is worth something in June.
Jared McCain (right) only played in 60 games with the Sixers after being selected in the first round of the 2024 draft.
A good way to judge the optics of a move is to attempt to write an executive summary of it in as favorable a way as possible. That’s an extraordinarily difficult task in this case. The Sixers just traded away a guy who they drafted at No. 16 barely a year and a half ago and who probably would be drafted higher in a redo. In exchange, they received a pick that currently projects as the No. 23 pick in the 2026 draft, two picks later than where the Sixers grabbed Tyrese Maxey almost six years ago. It is a range of the draft that rarely yields starters, let alone stars. It is a range where the odds say you are more likely to draft a player who never cracks a first-division rotation than one who becomes a meaningful starter.
Just look at the track record. Of the 42 players drafted with the last seven picks of the first round since 2020, only 17 have started more than 17 NBA games. Just eyeballing it, you’d be hard-pressed to identify 10 of those 42 who’ve turned out to be better than the median potential outcome of even this year’s version of McCain. Jaden McDaniels and Desmond Bane are stars. They are followed by Payton Pritchard, Immanuel Quickley, Quentin Grimes, and Santi Aldama. Beyond that: Peyton Watson and Cam Thomas, and then Bones Hyland, Day’Ron Sharpe, Nikola Jović, and Kyshawn George. You get the picture.
Risk vs. certainty is the name of the game. The Sixers traded McCain for a first-round pick that will be uncertain, even on draft day. Let alone five months before. Whatever negative certainty they felt about McCain’s mid-to-long-term trajectory, it can’t possibly be greater than the negative uncertainty of a draft-day replacement. Which is why, optically speaking, the move looks like one that was inordinately influenced by the cost-cutting benefits.
The Sixers surely will point to optionality as a variable. On draft day, they will have another opportunity to flip the McCain first-rounder for an established NBA player or include the pick in a package. If that influenced the move, then the bet they are making is that the pick will be more in a draft-day trade than McCain would have been himself. There’s a decent chance that is true, given how far McCain has fallen on the depth chart and how little opportunity he could have to reestablish value.
It just rings a little bit hollow to anybody who has bought into the commendable shift we’ve seen from the Sixers in their roster-building strategy over the last year. And it rings especially hollow when you consider that the team that traded for McCain is one of the best and brightest roster-builders in the modern NBA. As somebody said the other day, when Sam Presti wants one of your guys, it’s a good reason to think a few more thoughts about whether you should want to get rid of him.
Barely a year and a half has passed since the Sixers made McCain the No. 16 pick in the 2024 draft. In that year and a half, we’ve seen McCain:
Play 23 games in which he looked like one of the top five players in the class, forcing his way into the starting lineup and then averaging 19.1 points while shooting 39.7% from three-point range in the 16 games before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Play 25 games where he looked like a player working his way back from a broken thumb that he suffered while working his way back from knee surgery.
Play 11 games in a 15-game stretch in which he logged just 132 minutes.
In the Sixers’ defense, they’ve seen much more of McCain than the television cameras capture. Nobody can have a more informed opinion on where he projects within the context of their roster. But it wasn’t long ago that McCain looked like a player who could eventually transcend questions of fit. His ceiling never was close to VJ Edgecombe’s, and his probable reality was always short of Maxey’s. Again, though. The Thunder have a lot of guards. They are built on a two-way mentality. It makes you wonder.
What it comes down to is that the Sixers better be right in their evaluation of McCain. Whatever the marching orders from ownership regarding the luxury tax, there is a level of player even Scrooge McDuck wouldn’t deem an appropriate cost-savings measure. McCain isn’t that player now. The Sixers could be accurate in their judgment of the odds that he ever becomes one. The question is whether they are accurate in their judgment of their risk of being wrong.
Each Friday, Inquirer photo editors pick the best Philly sports images from the last seven days. This week, we’re reaching all the way to last Friday night, when Unrivaled took over South Philly and brought a record crowd to Xfinity Mobile Arena. But that’s not all the basketball — we’ve also got the Sixers, some local college action, and a high school hoops showdown between two defending state champs, Father Judge (Class 6A) and Neumann Goretti (5A).
St. Joe’s forward Anthony Finkley (left) reacts after teammate Jaiden Glover-Toscano hits a three during the second half against George Washington. The Hawks’ 76-73 win was their fourth straight.Philly native Ronald Moore (center) was once an NCAA Tournament hero at Siena and now serves as an assistant coach for the Penn Quakers.Neumann Goretti’s Marquis Newson gets up a shot against Father Judge in the first quarter of the Saints’ 71-66 win over the Crusaders in South Philadelphia on Sunday.Neumann Goretti’s Kody Colson passes the ball past Father Judge’s Khory Copeland (4) and Rezon Harris. Unrivaled set a record for attendance at a regular season women’s basketball game during the three-on-three league’s stop in Philly on Friday night.Cameron Brink of the Breeze leaps past Broomall native Natasha Cloud of the Phantoms. Cloud celebrated her professional hoops homecoming on Friday.Friday’s Unrivaled doubleheader drew more than 21,000 fans and was sold out well in advance.Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey (right) said he was surprised to hear that teammate Jared McCain was traded this week. Before the deadline, center Joel Embiid (left) said he had hoped the team would stay intact. Sixers forward Dominick Barlow drives past New Orleans Pelicans center Yves Missi.Flyers forward Owen Tippett beats Capitals goalie Clay Stevenson to give the Flyers a 1-0 lead in the first period of Tuesday’s win over Washington.Flyers goalkeeper Samuel Ersson (left) talks with Samuel Hancock, who plays goalie for his youth league team, at the Flyers Charities Carnival on Sunday.Shawn Paul, 3, receives a little help from his dad, Zach, as they try one of the games at the Flyers Charities Carnival.The Flyers Charities Carnival featured a Ferris wheel, a merry-go-round, and other carnival favorites. Fans could also interact with players, coaches, and alumni.The Phillie Phanatic helps load cases of supplies onto the team truck before it leaves for spring training in Clearwater, Fla. Yes, he packed his hot dog launcher.Sunday’s boys’ basketball game between Neumann Goretti and Father Judge was sold out.
