Jared McCain relished his experience as Sixers’ onstage representative at NBA draft lottery
The moment was also a touchpoint of McCain’s first full NBA offseason, which has been peppered with “mini milestones” while he rehabs from a torn meniscus.
CHICAGO — Jared McCain’s internal flash of confusion occurred onstage, in front of a packed ballroom focused on the envelopes revealing the NBA draft lottery’s results.
Then the telecast caught the 76ers guard gleefully smiling and nodding after a swift on-air correction that the Sixers had not lost their pick, but instead had moved into the top four.
One year after partaking in the combine workouts during these pre-draft activities in Chicago, McCain relished the opportunity to represent the Sixers on a chaotic lottery night that ended with his team landing the third overall selection.
“Once [we] got that back,” McCain said of the fixed mistake, “it was like, ‘Oh, we got this.’ I felt some good luck, and I knew we were going to get a top pick.”
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McCain holding this role Monday — the Sixers’ first lottery appearance since 2017 — almost made too much sense. He was an early NBA Rookie of the Year front-runner before mid-December meniscus surgery upended his NBA debut season. And he oozes on-camera charisma as a TikTok star.
Yet he felt a sense of déjà vu when he arrived at the familiar downtown Chicago hotel, where last year he “stressed” throughout his week of physical testing and interviews. The Sixers took McCain, then known as a Duke sharpshooter, with the 16th overall pick.
He immediately blossomed into a rookie who could score by firing from the outside and finishing at the rim, and play some backup point guard. He averaged 15.3 points on 38.3% shooting from three-point range in 23 games before his knee injury.
Before stepping onstage Monday, McCain enjoyed catching up with other teams’ representatives in a non-game-day setting. As NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum unveiled pick after pick, McCain kept eyeballing the table near the front of the stage where Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, general manager Elton Brand, and coach Nick Nurse sat.
“It was a fun little pressure experience,” McCain said.
It also was a touchpoint of McCain’s first full NBA offseason, which has been peppered with “mini milestones” while rehabbing. During his end-of-season news conference, he said he could finally jump without pain.
A month later, McCain can now skip.
“I don’t even like asking when I’m going to be fully back,” McCain said. “Just taking it day by day, doing whatever I can to make the most out of each moment.”