Another guard should be coming soon.
Going into a Tuesday night meeting with the Bulls, the guard-centric Sixers listed Jared McCain as probable to make his season debut.
The second-year sharpshooter hasn’t played since December of 2024. He’s been eager to grind through one more injury rehab — a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee last year, a torn UCL in his right thumb this year — and get the green light to play.
Ahead of the Sixers’ win Sunday night over the Nets, McCain went through a workout with assistant coaches on the Barclays Center floor. He didn’t appear to have limitations in terms of speed or contact.
The 5-1 Sixers listed both Paul George (left knee surgery recovery) and Dominick Barlow (right elbow laceration) as out against the 5-1 Bulls.
Barring any setbacks, George has seemed to be closing in on a return. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said that George had a “good workout” Saturday with McCain.
Nurse noted that Barlow’s laceration has taken longer to heal than the Sixers first expected and described the healing process as “kind of difficult,” though he still called the injury “nothing super major.”
Once he’s back in action, McCain should lighten the load on the Sixers’ other main perimeter players. As of Monday night, reigning Eastern Conference Player of the Week Tyrese Maxey ranked first in the NBA at 42.4 minutes per game. VJ Edgecombe was second at 38.9, Kelly Oubre Jr. fourth at 38.1.
Quentin Grimes has also played a major early-season role off the bench for the Sixers. Maxey, Edgecombe, Oubre and Grimes have combined to average 91.7 points and 18.7 assists so far.