Adjusting to the NBA game can be a challenge, something 76ers rookie Jared McCain learned the hard way at Summer League. He was drafted No. 16 out of Duke as a sharpshooter, hitting 41.4% from beyond the arc in college, but in Summer League (both Utah and Las Vegas) he struggled. McCain averaged 13.2 points a game but on 28.2% shooting from 3 in Las Vegas.
Slow start or not, McCain is doing and saying the right things. Look at what he told Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer about learning from the veterans around him.
“Kyle [Lowry] is somebody I watched his... NBA highlights, just being a bigger, stockier guard. Tyrese [Maxey] is a younger player that I can learn from, and Joel [Embiid] as an MVP, I can learn just any ins and outs. Paul George, Reggie Jackson, the whole lineup is just people I can learn from. That’s really what I’m most excited for. Even if I don’t play, whatever happens, I’m just here to learn as much as possible so I can take it as far as I can.”
That’s what you want a rookie to say and do — be a sponge. Take advantage of the veterans around you who are willing to teach.
McCain’s shot will be fine. He is going to have to earn his minutes this season. McCain is ideally an off-ball two guard but that means Kelly Oubre Jr. and Eric Gordon are in front of him on the depth chart, and on a win-now team like Philly coach Nick Nurse is going to lean into his veterans. That said, if McCain can find his shot, he will get rotation minutes off the bench — likely with veterans like Reggie Jackson — and have more chances to learn on the job.
