Jared McCain opens his first full Thunder season against the Spurs: ‘I’m not gonna let an opinion waver my confidence’

Jared McCain got a crash course with the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. He arrived in a February trade, started two games in the Western Conference finals and then watched the San Antonio Spurs end Oklahoma City’s title defense in Game 7. On Tuesday night he opens his first full season with the Thunder against that same Spurs team, and he says the way he sees himself has not changed.

“I feel like I always just have like an unwavering confidence. Like no matter if I play one minute and come in for the last minute of the game or whatever it is,” McCain said at Thunder practice on Sunday. “Getting a start in the playoffs is amazing and it’s a really cool experience, but the confidence never wavers. But it was really cool to play and start in a playoff game for sure.”

Philadelphia took McCain 16th overall out of Duke in 2024. He averaged 15.3 points in 23 games as a rookie before a torn meniscus in his left knee ended his season, then dropped to 6.6 points in 37 games last season before the Sixers traded him to Oklahoma City on Feb. 4 for a 2026 first-round pick and three second-rounders. With the Thunder he averaged 10.4 points in 30 regular-season games and shot 39.1 percent from three, then scored 10.0 points a game across all 15 playoff games.

Two starts against the Spurs

His role grew with every round. McCain averaged 3.0 points in the first-round sweep of Phoenix, 11.5 against the Lakers and 13.1 in 25.4 minutes a night against San Antonio. He scored 24 in a Game 3 win at San Antonio, then started Games 5 and 6 and put up 20 points in 33 minutes of a 127-114 Game 5 win. The Spurs took Game 6 at home and won Game 7 111-103 in Oklahoma City.

Asked what that run taught him, he said it changed how he trained. “I think pretty much that every possession matters, every detail matters,” McCain said. “Like if I miss a shot and I’m not staying in my shot, or I’m getting tired during a possession and training during the offseason, like I know it’s going to pay off during that playoff time, because it’s gruesome out there. It’s physical. It’s a lot of mental strength going out there.”

“So it was a good experience for me just mentally to know it’s going to take more,” he added. “It’s going to take more than what we did last year, and that will help us for this year.”

Coach Mark Daigneault, speaking the same day, said the Spurs series was a big part of the team’s summer review, along with everything else from last season. “We learn a lot from the series when you get beat and a team exposes some vulnerabilities and puts you in uncomfortable situations,” Daigneault said. “It’s a great opportunity to learn and evolve and grow. Your opponent is giving you feedback on yourself, and we always try to listen to what they’re telling us.”

Ready for hard closeouts

With Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins gone from last season’s roster, Oklahoma City needs more of McCain’s shooting, and he expects defenders to run at him. He said he built his summer around that.

“Reading the closeout is huge. This summer was a lot of just making sure somebody had one of the sticks and just trying to get it in my face, because a lot of the time they’re closing out really hard, but I still feel like I can make those shots,” he said. “And then obviously reading it, if I can drive and kick, I can playmake off of those, and then that opens up the game for another possession. If they think I’m going to pass it, I can shoot it. So a lot of that, it’s going to dictate my game throughout the season.”

He showed it in the preseason, hitting six threes on his way to 20 points in a 114-112 overtime win over Indiana on Oct. 13.

He sees his main job as giving the stars room. “I think I do a really good job just spacing and finding windows for Shai or Dub or A.J. when they’re coming off pick and roll and they’re getting doubled or something,” he said, referring to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell. He added that rookie guard Bennett Stirtz “has a really smart mind, so he’s able to pick up on those pretty easy.”

Using his strength on defense

Defense is where a 6-foot-3 guard has to earn his minutes on this team. Asked about possessions in the preseason game at Houston where he blew up dribble handoffs at the point of attack, McCain said: “It’s huge for us. I mean, it’s been the culture here for the past few years, and I’m trying to keep on with that. Especially with me, I think I can be physical with guys, and that plays to my advantage.”

He said he studies Cason Wallace. “He has a longer wingspan than me, so it’s a little easier for him to just kind of steal the ball,” McCain said, “but trying to use any of my physicality to get in the way and try and be smart with the plays, understanding what they’re going to do offensively and try and see it before it happens.”

Where the confidence comes from

Asked whether his confidence was learned or taught, McCain went back to playing against older players as a kid. “I played up with my brother. I played up like my whole life. And so like if I’m playing up with them, the only shots I’m going to get are like if I’m taking the shots and being confident,” he said. “Or like going to 24 Hour Fitness or like the YMCA and then like being on the side of the court, like you gotta step on even if you’re the youngest person out there.”

“My parents and my brother has been huge, and just telling me like, this is what you do, like you work too hard to not go out there and be confident,” he said. “I’m gonna trust my work, and I say that a lot, and I’m not gonna let anything, an opinion, waver my confidence.”

Still watching the Sixers

McCain said he still keeps up with his old team, which spent the summer remaking its roster around a new star group. “They look like they’re going to be an elite team. I’m excited to go back there and play them,” he said. “I forget if they come here first or we go them first, but excited to see some of the guys.” The first-round pick the 76ers got for him became the No. 22 selection in June, Alabama guard Labaron Philon Jr..

For now, he said he is simply glad the waiting is over. “I feel great. My mental is great. My physical is great. My body feels great,” McCain said. “I was telling my family last night, I’m excited to get to that point in the season where I’m in new hotels. Hotels are my favorite parts about the NBA. So just getting all the new hotels, new cities and playing in some of the spots I still haven’t played yet.”

The Thunder and Spurs tip off in San Antonio at 9:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday, which is 4:30 a.m. Wednesday in Cairo. Oklahoma City’s home opener is Thursday against Denver.