Nov 24, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (20) looks on before the game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

Jared McCain 'Blessed' To Have Young Core on 76ers

Originally posted on Philadelphia 76ers on SI
By Declan Harris | Last updated Apr 15, 2025 5:32 PM ET

It's safe to say that the Philadelphia 76ers more than struggled with the injury bug this season, with several of their top players missing significant time and being cast to the bench. But while one player goes off the court, another must come on, which allowed Sixers' head coach, Nick Nurse, to use plenty of his younger players.

Perhaps the most impressive was Jared McCain, who was selected by Philadelphia with the 16th pick of the 2024 NBA draft. The 21-year-old averaged 15.3 points per game on 46 percent from the field before he himself would miss the remainder of the season after tearing the meniscus in his left leg.

This would only allow more young players to soak in valuable time on the court, whether it was Ricky Council IV, who was in sophomore season in the NBA, Adem Bona, who was drafted after McCain in the 2024 draft, or Justin Edwards, who went undrafted in 2024 before being picked up by the Delaware Blue Coats ahead of the season.

The latter of the aforementioned trio caught the eye of McCain, who expressed his excitement getting to watch his co-stars develop their game and take it to new heights in the NBA.

"Yeah, it's always a blessing to have the young guys come into their own and feel like as they did and at their most confident," said McCain. "I think [Adem] Bona and Justin [Edwards] have done an amazing job of their growth this year, so it's been cool to watch them."

Bona initially struggled to get minutes under Nurse, given the players ahead of him being Joel Embiid, Guerschon Yabusele, and Andre Drummond. But towards the middle to end of the season, the Sixers' head coach decided to give him more minutes, which he'd bask in, averaging 13.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game across the last month.

As alluded to earlier, Edwards, on the other hand, started the season with the Blue Coats in the G League, where he'd only be for a short period of time. With Delaware, the former Kentucky guard would average 17.4 points per game on 47 percent shooting from the field. This shooting rate would carry over to his time with Philadelphia, as he put up 10 points per game on 45.5 percent accuracy.

Despite not being on the court with his fellow rookies, McCain explained that they talk all the time, as he remains heavily excited to join them on the court next season.

"We talk all the time, we can't wait to play with each other, and so I'm excited to get back out there with them. But their growth has been really cool to just see because they work really hard since we got drafted."