Poking the ball out of Jamaree Bouyea’s pocket, Jared McCain got ahead of the crowd. He ran full court as Topic flung the ball in his direction. The 22-year-old showed off some rare hops as he threw down an ultra-rare one-handed dunk in transition. You could see Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams jump up and down in excitement.
The Oklahoma City Thunder finished their 2025-26 regular season with a 135-103 loss to the Phoenix Suns. With the first seed locked up, they played the finale with the end of the bench and three two-way players.
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McCain finished with nine points on 4-of-13 shooting, four rebounds and two assists. He shot 0-of-4 from 3 and went 1-of-2 on free throws. He also had one steal.
Of the eight players who suited up, McCain has the second-best odds to get playoff minutes — sorry, Aaron Wiggins. It all depends on his jumper, though. If he can knock down outside looks, he could give the Thunder some big-time buckets. If not, it’s difficult to keep him on the floor.
Playing in the regular-season finale, McCain’s jumper didn’t fall. But he made up for it with some difficult finishes in the packed paint. He checked out for the final time with a little over four minutes left in the third quarter. That alone should tell you what the Thunder think of his possible playoff impact.
We’ll see what happens. Mostly running it back with the same group, he’s the only newbie in OKC’s playoff run this year. It’ll also be his first playoff run — period. You never know how a role player reacts to those high-leverage environments. Good news is, the Thunder’s back-to-back hopes won’t really depend on him.
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“I’ve talked about it a lot. I’m super excited. First off, I’m just proud of myself for finishing the season — almost, I had the thumb injury in the beginning — but after that, just finishing it out,” McCain said. “I was just telling them how it’s crazy that I never thought I was going to be here, but I’m just grateful to be here. Super excited for playoff basketball. I’ve watched it all my life. It’s going to be super fun to be part of.”
This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Jared McCain ‘super excited’ for NBA playoff debut with OKC Thunder
