Jared McCain Out Indefinitely With Torn Meniscus

An MRI revealed that Sixers rookie guard Jared McCain suffered a lateral meniscus tear in his left knee, the team announced Saturday evening.

The injury will require surgery and the rookie sensation is out indefinitely.

In a statement, the Sixers said that McCain reported left knee soreness following Friday's loss to the Indiana Pacers.

I'm not an ardent practitioner of religion in general, but this Sixers season feels like the Book of Job. It is Murphy's Law. Just when you think they've been pushed to their limits with adversity, the basketball gods come striking down again. This time, it's the smiley favorite for the NBA's Rookie of the Year award.

McCain, you could argue, has been the Sixers' best three-point shooter this season. He's been one of their two or three best ball-handlers. His playmaking has served as a smooth contrast to the skill set of prized guard Tyrese Maxey, prompting the team's followers to campaign for the two youngsters to start together.

The injury has significant direct implications on Philadelphia's offense. The Sixers have scored almost eight more points per 100 possessions with McCain on the court than with him off, according to PBPStats. His shooting is an impact skill in its own right, especially for a team that has largely struggled from three-point range through what is now nearly the first third of the season. But, his shooting gravity and secondary ball-handling change the calculus on Philadelphia's offense.

In an ideal world, Maxey and McCain would be starting together. McCain has been one of the team's five best players this season, full stop. Forget about fit or defensive concerns. Reward the player for being as good as he's been.

But, with Joel Embiid and Paul George back in the mix lately (until Friday night, at least), Nick Nurse has spread his ball-handling out to the bench, letting McCain handle the second units. It has limited or completely erased the on-court roles the team's older guards have played.

Theoretically, putting McCain on the court with Maxey alleviates the on-ball burden the star guard faces. It allows him to play more off the ball, weaponizing his prowess as a catch-and-shoot option. Now, for the foreseeable future, the ball is in Maxey's hands. He is far and away the only guard with secondary skills to give the ball-handling the juice it needs to matter.

Indirectly, this injury now ostensibly re-introduces players like Kyle Lowry to bigger roles. It gives the likes of Eric Gordon and Reggie Jackson opportunities in the regular rotation.

It's gratuitous to say those three are well beyond their best years.

In terms of timeline, the team has yet to make any declarations beyond that the injury will require surgery and McCain will be out indefinitely. There has been no specification regarding the type of surgery McCain will have.

But, covering this franchise has made us familiar with meniscus injuries. So, a quick refresher:

- If it's a trimming procedure - which is to say, removal of the unstable tissue - the timeline for return to play is usually close to six weeks. This procedure, however, can have long-term effects even if the problem is fixed in the short-term. That's something that should matter to the Sixers and their rookie guard when considering options, if there is any option for this injury.

- If it's a suture procedure - which is to say, repair by way of stitching the unstable tissue - the timeline for return to sport is approximately four months. The long-term cons are not as concerning. But, it ostensibly ends McCain's season now if that's the path chosen. However, we don't even know if the suture procedure is an option for McCain at this time.

Each new injury makes it more desirable to check Tankathon, dreaming of bridging the present to the future with a top pick in the 2025 draft. There are a number of reasons that the Sixers are not incentivized to "pull the plug" yet. 

Chief among them is that they do not control their own first-round pick. The Oklahoma City Thunder are owed that pick if it falls outside of the top six in the draft because of the trade that sent Al Horford packing and brought Danny Green to Philadelphia way back when. Because of the new lottery format, which features flattened odds to disincentivize tanking, the likelihood that the Sixers would keep their pick is extremely low. 

The only way to guarantee that that pick stays with Philadelphia is to finish with one of the two worst records in the NBA. They're already behind the eight ball on that. And with the Brooklyn Nets on the verge of trading Dennis Schroder for draft capital, that's another team racing down to the league's basement.

We can have that conversation if the Sixers find a way to involve themselves in a trade that lifts the restrictions on that pick.

For now, flip your birds to the (lateral) meniscus.