For Sixers rookie Jared McCain, camp and preseason may truly matter |Max Sporty|

For Sixers rookie Jared McCain, camp and preseason might really matter originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The month or so before the first game that counts is not very consistent for many NBA veterans.

Yes, that matters Joel Embiid stands up smoothly, Paul George is getting comfortable with his new team and Tyrese Maxey continues to hone his playmaking. However, it would be a stretch to call any preseason minutes truly meaningful for the Sixers’ stars.

Rookie guard Jared McCain is in a much different position.

Based on the buzz out of training camp, the 16th overall pick has impressed in his early days as a Sixer. On Day 2, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters in the Bahamas he still “really likes” McCain. He praised his “IQ for the game” and defensive effort, calling him a “scrapper”.

On the 3rd day, Joel Embiid described McCain as “tough” and said he “shot the ball extremely well.”

Will McCain end up leapfrogging over well-established players in the Sixers’ rotation? Reggie Jackson and Eric Gordon are in their mid-30s and Kyle Lowry is 38. At 20, McCain appears to have a mature outlook on his path to playing time. He will control what he can – speed, positive energy, attention to detail – and look to improve his sharp reputation.

In his one year at Duke, McCain shot 41.4 percent from three-point range on 5.8 attempts per game. He then struggled with his shooting in a smaller, vastly inferior sample at summer league, going just 28.6 percent from the field and 25.5 percent from three-point range.

“I’ve been working with (assistant coach Rico Hines) every day since summer league,” McCain said Monday at his first NBA media day. “I was with him in the gym in the morning before practice, just trying to figure out what I can do to help the team win – whatever that is. And still perfecting everything I can, that might not be my role this year but might be on the line… handle the ball, be able to lead a team.

“But still obviously perfecting the catch-and-shoot and just being able to knock down shots. … All around, just trying to get better.”

Grinding daily with Hines, who leads the Sixers’ player development program, can’t hurt McCain’s stock with the coaching staff. As for Nurse in particular, there isn’t a deep history with rookie guards in the NBA to study.

Undrafted Terence Davis made the All-Rookie Second Team with the 2019-20 Raptors, although he was not in the rotation for Toronto’s second-round playoff series against the Celtics. No. 29 overall pick Malachi Flynn had a midseason G League stint as a rookie and then finished the year starting for a team out of playoff contention. Jumbo guard Dalano Banton logged 64 NBA appearances for the 2021-22 Raptors and played 10.9 minutes per contest.

We’ll soon have a better sense of exactly where McCain stands.

Ultimately, while everything is fluid for NBA rookies on playoff teams, McCain can legitimately help himself in the weeks leading up to his first “real” game.

“I think one of my skills is that I’m able to adapt to whatever the situation is,” he said Monday. “Even in the beginning of college … I feel like I was almost the fourth or fifth option on the floor in the very beginning.

“But I kept working and obviously became one of the first choices. … I think I’m ready for any opportunity I get. I’m just going to work as hard as I can and do everything I can to help the team win.”