You could have seen: Jared McCain by no means turns down a shot, and his shot seemingly all the time goes in. He’s been lights out as a Thunder, draining 40.2% of his threes whereas placing up 9.3 3PA per-36. That’s a greater clip than he flashed earlier than his Rookie of the Year marketing campaign was lower quick in Philly final season. Every McCain launch generates the identical confidence in Thunder followers he exudes whereas dancing in every new TikTookay submit1.
McCain has been good within the clutch, and his large pictures have usually are available in pivotal moments whereas OKC survives with SGA on the bench. The most typical lineups that includes McCain have been internet optimistic with plus offense and three-point capturing.
His shot chart seems to be designed to information the platonic outdoors shooter. McCain thrives behind the road, and dries up as soon as he steps simply inside it. He’s additionally nails on floaters and jumpers from simply outdoors the paint, however struggles to complete when he wins a drive all the way in which to the cup.
When McCain rises up, Thunder followers can depend on the shot taking place.
Nails.
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Signals within the Noise: Team-Wide Shooting Hope
You could have additionally seen that the Thunder on the entire have been capturing fairly poorly of late. Turns out, all of these JoeCain three-point flurries have not outweighed the hideous quarters, ugly halves, and entire games by which OKC has gone chilly. It’s all added as much as completely league common (36%) capturing from deep since McCain Day (heretofore referred to as “Jared McCain’s trade acquisition by the Oklahoma City Thunder”).
On the opposite hand, there’s some intriguing motion amongst who is taking OKC’s shot, no matter what number of are falling every sport.
In the final three seasons, whether or not OKC is really a dependable capturing staff has been a professional query. Back in 2023-24, there was increasingly ball motion spun as much as discover the greatest shot on the courtroom, and many people winced as Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, and sure, even Aaron Wiggins, handed up good pictures trying to find even higher seems to be. All these additional pumpfakes and skip passes and drive-kicks led to…a billion broad open seems to be and the league’s greatest capturing share from deep.
Yelling at Chet on TV to simply shoot that feels even sillier when Lu Dort instantly guides one other moonball house for the league’s premier capturing staff. I suppose he ought to hearken to the coaches and shot high quality statistics, not the followers in that situation. But we stubbornly remained nervous within the playoffs. Could we actually depend on one of the best pictures falling once they weren’t taken by probably the most polished shooters?
In two straight playoffs, our nightmares got here true. In 2024, the ball more and more discovered its method to Dort, Josh Giddey, or Chet on the perimeter, none of whom splashed house sufficient pictures to drive the opponent out of space-jamming the remainder of the halfcourt. The Thunder had been bounced within the second spherical whereas Giddey was benched.
In 2025, the issue bought worse: solely three of the Thunder’s prime seven three-point shooters by quantity or share made inside 6% of their common season common within the playoffs. And those that did replicate their common season accuracy mixed to take practically seven fewer makes an attempt per sport within the postseason: Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, and Jaylin Williams all performed decreased roles because the defensive depth ratcheted up. Finally, Jalen Williams’ wrist was badly in want of restore, and Shai entered the playoffs after peaking in productiveness from behind the arc in the course of the season. In different phrases, there was hardly wherever to pattern however down. But regardless of OKC’s three-point capturing crumbling, they nonetheless gained the championship.
For the second straight season, the 2025-26 Thunder has grow to be much less reliant on three-point pictures whereas nonetheless profitable 80% of its video games.
OKC’s function gamers will certainly wax and wane in each enjoying time and effectiveness in the course of the postseason, however this time round McCain provides one other potential waxer to the fold. Can different groups play all of McCain, Joe, J-Will, and Wiggins off the ground earlier than they catch hearth? Good luck making an attempt. What’s extra: the decrease quantity from Shai, Chet, and JDub2 this common season offers them extra room to broaden their capturing obligations because the going will get robust.
JoeCain Is Still Lethal
McCain joined the jolly, psycho-competitors in Oklahoma City with a smile on his face and a popularity for dancing, capturing, and getting blown by. Most of that has checked out, however his defensive weaknesses had been exaggerated. I assumed McCain (alongside Nikola Topic) might solely audition for a Ajay Mitchell-sized playmaker function when the highest three playmakers had been out of the lineup. I used to be fallacious. An even bigger spot within the pecking order could be had at this stage in McCain’s growth and OKC’s roster maturity.
McCain is third in utilization on the staff, operating with the chance to fill in and refill the field rating whereas Mitchell, JDub, and even Shai had been out with damage. An area and rhythm wizard, McCain is all the time transferring, all the time within the route of house the protection is warping to permit. Combined with the Guard Feeding King Isaiah Hartenstein, McCain spins defenders into knots. Since McCain Day, OKC has three of the highest 15 gamers in threes made per possession and per minute. Before that, they solely had one such participant within the prime 50 leaguewide.
Joe additionally works tirelessly off-ball, collaborating as a screener, cutter, decoy, and whilst a two-man initiator or off-the-dribble creator towards the appropriate matchup. And when Hartenstein will get to play with JoeCain collectively, Daily Thunder podcaster Ryan Woods aptly described the viewing expertise like watching planets orbiting the solar. To defenders, it most likely feels extra like getting sucked right into a black gap.
McCain’s added worth on offense has been stark, whereas his intelligence and craft soften his limitations on protection. For instance, McCain’s nostril for house persists after the shot, and OKC rebounds higher on each ends when the guard is buzzing round within the moments earlier than hustling again to place.
Nails within the Playoffs?
Pinch your self: the Thunder have two deadeye shooters in reserve with extra to supply than some additional gravity within the nook whereas making an attempt to outlive on protection.
McCain’s minutes have dipped, together with Joe’s, because the different guards returned to the energetic roster. And whereas Joe has had extra success as a microwave shooter in fewer minutes since JDub’s return (48.6% 3P, together with a 6-8 heater in 13 minutes towards the Lakers), McCain is able to offering quite a lot of fast pictures off the bench.
The Thunder are inserting extra refined bets in constancy to historical frequent knowledge: who must you depend on to get sizzling within the playoffs? Remember the traits from prior postseasons, when probably the most optimum gamers took fewer and fewer of probably the most excessive worth pictures as OKC confronted postseason defensive schemes. OKC followers will likely be forgiven for considering gamers solely shoot worse within the postseason, however the reverse can occur, too. Mixed in with the in any other case harrowing knowledge, function gamers like Alex Caruso and J-Will have proven out within the playoffs. Mark Daigneault, an aggressive mix-and-matcher who was undaunted from enjoying a rookie 12 minutes in Game 6 of the Finals, can have a space-maxing participant on the prepared if the mathematics begins to break down below the burden of Dort three-pointers and J-Will/Wiggins defensive concentrating on.
When Jared McCain’s quantity is known as, he’ll be Nails.
- McCain is a basic instance of my #1 rule for dancing: 90% of dancing is within the face.
- Jalen’s capturing traits have been easy as sandpaper since injuring his wrist. He now says it feels good, however remains to be taking about half as many three-point makes an attempt per minute in comparison with final yr. I’d quite Williams shoot 30% on 2.4 makes an attempt (this season) than 30% on 5 makes an attempt (final postseason), however whether or not the primary string can generate sufficient house with all of Dub, Dort and iHart on the courtroom is my greatest concern for the 2026 playoffs. Thus far, the dimensions Williams brings again to the Thunder has been extra of a boon than the sub-optimal capturing distance has been a legal responsibility:
