In Wednesday night’s first round of the NBA draft, the Philadelphia 76ers selected Duke guard Jared McCain with the 16th overall pick. Just before the Sixers made their selection, the Miami Heat were on the board at pick 15 with the opportunity to draft the Duke guard and ended up passing on him to select Indiana center Kel’el Ware.
Interestingly enough, NBA Insider Jake Fischer tweeted that the Heat would be picking McCain, giving the appearance that Miami potentially made up for past mistakes, but they ended up selecting Ware instead. With McCain still on the board, the Sixers went after one of the best shooters in the draft, who can play on and off the ball.
If this feels like deja vu, you’re not wrong. This exact situation happened during the 2020 NBA Draft when the Sixers picked Tyrese Maxey after the Miami Heat passed on him and selected F/C Precious Achiuwa. Maxey has blossomed into an All-Star and the co-star to Joel Embiid in Philadelphia for the foreseeable future.
Philly hopes that they can hit on their non-lottery pick and that McCain develops like Maxey. Miami opted for size and depth behind Bam Adebayo but could have used McCain’s shooting, giving them the option to possibly dangle Tyler Herro in a trade.
Will history repeat itself? Will Miami be kicking itself again? Only time will tell, but if all the things that scouts are saying are true, Philly will be a major winner from this draft. Scouts talk about how hard he works, and if he falls in line with the other young players like Maxey and even Ricky Council IV, McCain will surprise everyone with how much of an impact he can make.
