Jalen Williams’ ankle injury has pushed Jared McCain back into the center of the Thunder’s most uncomfortable question.
When Oklahoma City landed McCain for draft compensation and didn’t give up a player, the move looked like one of those rare heists that tilts a franchise’s fortune. Eight months later, the deal had already become the kind of transaction people used to bash Daryl Morey over. Now, with Williams set to miss significant time after suffering a severe ankle injury in the Thunder’s third game of the 2026-27 season, the discussion around McCain is shifting again.
This is where the value test really starts.
Last season, Oklahoma City absorbed Williams missing 49 games and still kept rolling because the perimeter held up so well. Luguentz Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins each carried real weight in different ways.
Dort handled bigger wings. Joe produced career highs in points per game, three-point percentage and effective field goal percentage.
Wiggins was less steady, but he still delivered important scoring bursts down the stretch.
That safety net is gone now. The Thunder traded all three of Dort, Joe and Wiggins in the 2026 offseason, and Williams’ new injury means the team is once again short on reliable answers out wide. That puts more on the remaining perimeter group to fill the gap, and McCain is the name under the brightest spotlight.
He may not be the loudest part of the roster, but the burden on him is obvious. Oklahoma City now needs more from Alex Caruso, McCain, Ajay Mitchell and Cason Wallace, and it needs that production to come without the cushion the Thunder enjoyed a season ago.
The biggest issue is simple: replacing the team’s second-leading scorer is not a one-man exercise, but somebody has to help shoulder it. Mitchell will probably take on the heaviest load, yet McCain has to bring steady scoring of his own.
His job now looks a lot like the one Joe and Wiggins filled before him. He has to be a backup guard who gives the Thunder dependable production and occasional swings that change a game’s rhythm.
If he can do that, it eases the pressure on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren. If he can’t, Oklahoma City’s offense could run into trouble against elite opponents.
There is reason for optimism. McCain averaged 20.9 points per 36 minutes in 30 regular season appearances for the Thunder in 2025-26. If that level carries forward, the offense should survive Williams’ absence without losing too much traction.
If it doesn’t, the load on Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Mitchell gets a lot heavier. That trio might still be enough to steer the Thunder, but with championship ambitions, Oklahoma City needs more than survival.
It needs help. Mitchell’s lack of experience and Holmgren’s passive tendencies only sharpen that need.
So the trade may still look like robbery. But if McCain can’t answer the call now, the fact that the Thunder gave up a first-round pick and three second-rounders starts to look a lot different.
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For a team that values long-term upside but still wants immediate signs of progress, Maras start matters. Around the same Michigan pipeline of prospects, the opening stretch has been uneven, which only makes Maras smooth transition stand out more for the Thunder as they track whether they found the right player for this spot. [Read more 🡒]