Tyrese Maxey, Sixers teammates describe emotions watching Jared McCain traded at deadline: ‘It was a hard day’

LOS ANGELES — While on the 76ers’ bus heading to the San Francisco airport Wednesday morning, Jared McCain approached his teammates to reveal that he had been traded.

“It was just like, ‘All right, whatever. He’s just joking,’” All-Star point guard Tyrese Maxey recalled. “Calls start coming in, and then you realize it’s real.”

That is the human side of the trade deadline, which takes a backseat to the business focuses of asset acquisition, luxury tax ducking, and trying to enhance (or tear down) a roster for the stretch run and playoffs.

» READ MORE: The Sixers trading Jared McCain will either be a head-scratcher or an embarrassment

The record will show that the second-year guard was dealt to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2026 first-round pick and other draft compensation. Yet the Sixers abruptly lost a teammate in the middle of a five-game Western Conference road trip more than three months into the regular season. McCain, a fan favorite, also was popular inside the Sixers’ locker room, as somebody who brought positive vibes whether he was enjoying a breakout start to his rookie season or struggling to regain form following knee and thumb surgeries.

“It’s a harsh business and I know you have to try to take emotions out of it,” starting forward Dominick Barlow said of McCain, on the same day his two-way contract was converted to a standard deal. “But it’s kind of difficult. … It was a hard day.”

Maxey was the first Sixers to speak publicly about McCain’s “emotional” departure, calling him his “little brother.”

The 25-year-old “veteran” in this relationship was quickly taken by McCain’s combination of personality and diligence to his craft, saying that “anybody that worked that hard, for me, is going to be somebody that I probably gravitate to.” When Paul George was suspended 25 games for violating the NBA’s anti-drug policy, Maxey called McCain to encourage him to seize the opportunity. And Maxey said last Saturday that he was proud of how McCain had “fought his way out of a little funk” in his comeback from injury, shooting 15-of-26 from three-point range in his final six games before being traded.

Also hit particularly hard by the news were Justin Edwards and Adem Bona, who also were part of McCain’s 2024-25 rookie class.

Edwards has known McCain since they were roommates as teenagers at Steph Curry’s basketball camp. He said McCain has “always been the same person, honestly” (and “more than just a TikToker,” Edwards emphasized to The Inquirer). Even after the Sixers’ loss at the Los Angeles Lakers more than 24 hours later, Bona was “still processing” an “unreal” day.

“It’s kind of hard to understand,” Bona told The Inquirer, “but it’s part of the business.”

» READ MORE: Joel Embiid keeps his reaction to Sixers’ trade deadline politically correct: ‘I believe in myself’

Once teammates grasped that McCain was leaving, they tried to “make him laugh, even though it’s a tough situation,” Edwards said. Coach Nick Nurse briefly spoke to McCain as he got off the bus, assuring the 21-year-old that he would be successful with the Thunder. Another member of the traveling party told The Inquirer that McCain shed tears on the tarmac before the Sixers boarded their flight to Los Angeles.

“Obviously developed enough of a relationship that I care about him and wish him a lot of luck,” Nurse said before Thursday’s game at the Lakers. “ … Then I kind of move on, because there was a lot of people wanting to talk to him.”

The emotions hit Maxey again when he woke up for Thursday’s shootaround, realizing he would not see “JMac” downstairs at the team hotel. Bona had a similar reaction when he and rookie VJ Edgecombe went to perform a silly pregame ritual of attempting to juggle the basketball, and McCain was not there to join them as usual. Ditto for when it was time for pregame chapel — a staple for several of the Sixers’ younger players — and it felt like the group “wasn’t complete” without McCain, Bona said. McCain would often round up his teammates whenever they lost track of time.

“Tonight I looked up,” Bona said, “and I’m like, ‘Ah, Jared would have called me right now.’ But he wasn’t here to call me.”

By tipoff against the Lakers, however, the Sixers needed to move forward with the players still on the roster. Maxey and star center Joel Embiid encouraged McCain to use being traded as a fresh start with the defending NBA champions. They will all reunite on March 23, when the Thunder visit Philly.

Still, Maxey leaned into the human side of the trade deadline, acknowledging that “a lot of people in this organization were sad to see [McCain] go.”

“He’s got a fan in me for life,” Maxey said. “A brother in me for life.”