Mark Daigneault assumes Jared McCain will be 'ready to go' for NBA playoffs

Running it back with mostly the same group, the Oklahoma City Thunder are vying to be the first team since Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant teamed up a decade ago to win back-to-back NBA championships. There is one exception, though.

The Thunder added Jared McCain at the past NBA trade deadline. The Philadelphia 76ers decided to part ways to shave some of their salary. Buried on their bench, there was no real pathway for him to get minutes on the play-in tournament team.

In two months since then, McCain has seamlessly accommodated himself. He's been an extra scoring punch off the bench. The 22-year-old has flexed his endless motor and deep range from beyond the perimeter. While he won't necessarily get minutes every playoff game, he could help out in spot situations.

After OKC's regular-season finale, McCain talked about how excited he was to head into the NBA playoffs. He'll be the lone newbie on the roster not to experience that atmosphere and high-leverage environment. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault hasn't treated him any differently because of it, though.

"He’s not on his own curriculum. He's on the team. He's hearing the same messages that everybody's hearing," Daigneault said. "We assume the guys are ready to go. We don't assume they're not ready to go. I'm assuming he's ready for the physicality."

The Thunder could see themselves leaning on McCain for some quick microwave offense. Last year's championship run battled through poor outside shooting nights — specifically, on the road. If that happens again, they have different options to go to this time around that weren't there last summer.

“A lot of our guys are different. Chet Holmgren is a completely different player and brings different things to the team. The addition of Ajay to the primary rotation player, the addition of McCain," Daigneault said. "More prevalently, is the improvement of the returning players.”

We'll see when the Thunder might call on McCain's number. He's proven to have the scoring talent to swing a few possessions in OKC's favor. Of their entire roster, he might be the biggest unknown. That could turn into either a positive or a negative.

“Last year's championship was great. We earned it. No one can ever take it from us, and we'll have the rest of our lives to be the 2025 champions," Daigneault said. "But it's also over and completely mutually exclusive for this year's playoffs.”

This article originally appeared on OKC Thunder Wire: Mark Daigneault assumes Jared McCain will be 'ready to go' for NBA playoffs