Jared McCain’s shot has gone cold early this season, but the Thunder aren’t treating him like a player who needs to be hidden.
The numbers make the slump impossible to ignore. Over his last four games, McCain is 1-for-22 from three-point range, and his season field-goal percentage sits at 33.7 percent. Even so, Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault has kept him on the floor for about 25.0 minutes a night in the opening stretch of the 2026-27 campaign.
That patience comes down to everything McCain is doing away from the basket. Following the Thunder’s 124-116 win over the Cavaliers on Wednesday night, Daigneault pointed to McCain’s “a well-rounded floor game and being able to play both ends of the floor,” saying those traits have “built a lot of trust.”
Daigneault also singled out McCain’s “feisty rebounding” and said those kinds of efforts are what “buys you more minutes and more opportunities,” even when the jumper isn’t falling.
The production backs up the praise. McCain is holding opponents to 42.0 percent shooting from the floor and 33.3 percent from deep, while posting a defensive rating of 107.9. In the last two games against the Cavaliers, he has grabbed 10 rebounds.
He’s also been throwing his body around for the team’s sake, ranking fifth in deflections, second in loose balls recovered, and standing as one of only two Thunder players to draw a charge this year.
So while his best offensive weapon is misfiring, McCain is still giving Oklahoma City the kind of edge-work and hustle the organization has long valued. That’s a big reason Daigneault is giving him the third-most minutes on the roster during a stretch shaped by injuries.
Those injury issues have also put more pressure on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and he’s answered with a scoring tear. With Jalen Williams (ankle), Chet Holmgren (knee), and Cason Wallace (shoulder) all going down in just the third game of the season, Gilgeous-Alexander has been carrying the offense.
The Cavaliers got the worst of it twice. After putting up 43 on Cleveland on Monday, the two-time MVP followed it up with 42 two nights later.
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