Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain suffered a UCL tear in his right thumb during a workout Thursday, the team announced.
“McCain and the 76ers are consulting with specialists on next steps, and further updates will be provided as appropriate,” the Sixers said in a statement.
Philadelphia selected McCain out of Duke with the No. 16 overall pick in last year’s draft. He averaged 15.3 points, 2.6 assists and 2.4 rebounds in the 23 games he played before suffering a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee in December and missing the remainder of the 2024-25 season.
Injuries plagued the Sixers last season, Philadelphia’s first missing the playoffs since 2016-17. In the second year of Nick Nurse’s run as head coach, the Sixers had a whopping 54 starting lineups. Star center Joel Embiid played only 19 games. Paul George, whom Philadelphia brought aboard last offseason on a four-year, $212 million max contract, played just 41 games. Even standout point guard Tyrese Maxey was limited to a career-low 52 games.
When Maxey was out early last season, McCain took over at point. In that six-game span, McCain averaged 25.2 points, 4 assists and 2.3 rebounds per game while shooting 44.1% from deep. In the process, he turned in 27-, 29- and 34-point performances.
Even after Maxey returned to the lineup, McCain still registered another 30 piece. That outing against the Brooklyn Nets gave McCain seven straight 20-plus-point games and, more importantly, the NBA record for most 3-pointers made in the first five starts of a career (26), the Sixers’ record for most 3-pointers made through the first 15 games of a career (37) as well as the NBA rookie record for most consecutive games with at least three 3-pointers made (8).
McCain became the early favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year before his knee injury. He’s part of a Sixers backcourt that features Maxey but also includes this year’s No. 3 overall pick V.J. Edgecombe.
McCain’s injury news Thursday raises additional questions about the Sixers and restricted free agent guard Quentin Grimes, who averaged 21.9 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 28 games (25 starts) after the Sixers acquired him at the trade deadline last season.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported Wednesday that two sides “are very far apart on a deal.”
Charania said Grimes’ agent told him that Wednesday was the first time the Sixers had made a “formal hard offer” to Grimes as a restricted free agent.
Grimes will not be attending Sixers media day Friday, nor will he be traveling with the team this weekend for preseason, Grimes’ agent reportedly told Charania.
“From the 76ers’ side of this all, getting V.J. Edgecombe in the high lottery, obviously that changes the dynamics of their backcourt,” Charania said. And there is a level of uncertainty going into this year health-wise with key players like Joel Embiid, Paul George and where does that leave the Sixers in terms of offering those high-value, high-multi-year deals.”
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