5 Reasons McCain and Maxey Can Be the Sixers' Backcourt of the Future

MOC looks at the potential long-term viability of the one good development from this horrific Sixers season.

In a season that has otherwise been absolutely torturous, the one bright spot has been the emergence of Jared McCain. Shockingly, he is leading the team in points per minute, and aside from sparingly low-minute players, he leads the team in three point percentage and true shooting percentage, as well.

The one thing that might cause some to temper their excitement for McCain, though, is the fact that the fit on paper next to Tyrese Maxey is a bit redundant. They play the same position, have a lot of the same strengths and weaknesses, and would make for an extremely small backcourt pairing – which has typically not been a formula for success in the NBA. I myself have predicted several times that the Sixers would trade McCain, but with how good he looks, I’m ready to start considering him a real part of their future.

Still, since questions exist about the long-term fit, I thought it might be a good idea to make the case for the possibility that Maxey and McCain can not only coexist, but thrive as the team’s starting backcourt moving forward. So, here are five reasons why I believe that can be the case.

1. McCain’s ability to create in the pick and roll will lower Embiid’s workload on offense

It feels like a distant memory now, but right after the Sixers traded for James Harden, a major point of discussion was the question of whether or not Embiid could thrive in a setting where he is asked to play out of the pick and roll at a high volume. Of course, Embiid more than extinguished those questions, as the Harden-Embiid pick and roll became one of the most unstoppable plays in the entire league, and he was later able to replicate a large chunk of that success with Tyrese Maxey in the ‘23-24 season. 

With McCain and Maxey together, Embiid would now have a capable pick and roll partner on the floor at all times, further easing his workload as he ages, helping him convert into less of a shot creator and more of a play finisher. He would be able to operate less out of post-ups and more out of short roll situations – fewer fistfights for post-ups, more 14-foot pick-and-roll jumpers.

McCain has already demonstrated a solid chemistry with Embiid in these situations, as Embiid’s crushing screens have helped free him up for a few mid-range jumpers. I imagine that as time goes on, their chemistry will only continue to grow, and McCain’s excellent feel for the game will help make Embiid’s life easier.

2. McCain and Maxey are both lethal off-ball players, and the Sixers can base a large chunk of their offense around off-ball movement

It really can’t be overstated how valuable it is that Maxey and McCain might both be top-10 shooters in the entire league. With the right coaching vision, the Sixers could run an offense that revolves heavily around off-ball movement and screening actions between the two of them, a la Steph and Klay.

I’m not saying they can reach the heights that the Splash Brothers did – those two guys are in a league of their own. But I would say that one of the things that separates Maxey and McCain from, say, Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, is that they are both excellent off-ball players who are both willing and able to fly around setting screens for each other. The Sixers will never devolve into a my-turn, your-turn offense with McCain and Maxey out there; they both have the intelligence and the willingness to learn how to play off of one another and establish high-level chemistry.

3. With McCain locked into a rookie contract through 2028, the Sixers can go all-in on an elite defensive wing to round out their starting five

Aside from the on-court fit, one of the things that makes it logical to build around Maxey and McCain together is the logistics from a team-building perspective. If we consider Maxey, McCain, George, and Embiid to be locked in for the next four years, the Sixers can safely devote nearly all of their remaining resources to acquiring the perfect fifth starter. 

They have four tradeable first round picks and a handful of second round picks, as well as ample salary filler in the forms of K.J. Martin, Kelly Oubre Jr., and perhaps even Andre Drummond. That should be plenty to acquire a high-level starter if they choose to pursue one.

In my opinion, the ideal trade candidate would be someone like Herb Jones – an elite defensive wing who can fly around the floor and plug holes left behind by what will inevitably be a weak defensive backcourt. Dorian Finney-Smith also makes plenty of sense, although he isn’t nearly the defender that Jones is. Jarred Vanderbilt would be another lower-quality option there. 

If the Sixers were feeling especially bold, though, and wanted to go all-in on offense, they could put together the salary to get to Cameron Johnson’s figure. The amount of shooting they would be able to put on the floor at that point would be outrageous – they might have four of the 20 best shooters in the league in their starting lineup. They’d be mediocre on defense, but truly unstoppable on offense. 

But regardless of which direction they choose, the point is that keeping McCain would give the Sixers all the flexibility in the world to round out their starting five however they see fit. The benefits of having him be this good, this fast on a rookie contract cannot be overstated.  

A Breakdown of Why Jared McCain Is Already So Good

4. Other small backcourts did not have Paul George and Joel Embiid to play off of

When looking at other failed small backcourts of the past, like aforementioned Blazers, the Isaiah Thomas Celtics, or Donovan Mitchell’s Jazz teams, one of the themes is that they were starved for offense from their wings and centers – you could safely bet that trapping them and getting the ball out of their hands would pose no risk. Lillard’s Blazers got eviscerated in the playoffs in 2018 because the Pelicans simply decided to blitz him and McCollum on every possession. 

Suffice it to say, that is not a safe strategy when the opposing team has George and Embiid as outlets to create out of 4-on-3 situations. There is no world where opposing teams could simply blitz Maxey and McCain and automatically cut off the Sixers’ water. 

It’s also worth noting, of course, that George and Embiid are better defenders than those Blazers teams had – they are far more capable of cleaning up the mistakes of their small guards than players like Moe Harkless and Jusuf Nurkic were.

Again, I’m not saying that Maxey and McCain won’t be liabilities on defense, but the Sixers are more built to withstand it than other teams with small backcourts have been in the past.

5. Both Maxey and McCain are MFing winners

All of the discussion around McCain’s nail polish and TikTok dancing has obscured a very simple and obvious fact – this kid is a fucking winner. He’s competitive as hell, says and does all the right things, is completely unselfish, has unflinching confidence, and shows up in big moments. He and Maxey are truly two of the highest character individuals I can remember having on the Sixers.. 

I think I’ve laid out a pretty good case here for why the two of them can coexist from a skill perspective, but the thing that is most undeniable is the fact that they are an incredible fit from a personality perspective. Perhaps a Maxey-McCain pairing will fall short because they just aren’t good enough defensively at the point of attack, but it definitely won’t fall short because they’re losers – and after all the losers we’ve had on this franchise over the years, that’s a refreshing change. 

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Mike O’Connor is the best O’Connor in basketball writing. Previously of The Athletic, you can find Mike on Twitter @MOConnor_NBA. Mike’s writing is brought to you by Body Bio, supplements based on science, focusing on your gut and brain health.