According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Philadelphia 76ers have decided to trade Jared McCain to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Houston Rockets’ 2026 first round pick and three second round picks.

This trade heavily took place due to the Sixers no longer having a solid role for the 21-year-old. With their backcourt consisting of Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe, McCain’s spot on the team slowly began to shrink. Especially considering the meniscus injury he suffered during his rookie season.

OKC is hoping, in the long-term, that McCain can get back to his original style of play and help elevate the already-dominating Thunder.

According to Chris Haynes, the Philadelphia 76ers have made the executive decision to not allow Joel Embiid play in any back-to-back games. It can be the beginning of it or the ending of it.

This would limit him to playing only 66 games this season, that’s if he can remain healthy for all those games.

Philadelphia wants to preserve his health for a potential postseason run, as his status for later in the NBA calendar has always been so up and down.

The last time the 31-year-old played 60+ games was back in 2023-24. In the 2023-24 season, Embiid only played in 39 games. Last season, Embiid only played in 19 games.

According to multiple reports, and the man himself, Paul George is still dealing with the rehab process of the knee surgery he undergone back in July. This has forcibly stopped him from being able to practice in the upcoming training camp.

Daryl Morey and the Philadelphia 76ers have made it clear that they don’t know how many games he will play this year, and what his health will look like. In fact, it could be less or roughly the same as last season; fans only saw him appear in 41 games.

“I’m getting better and better,” George said. “I’m feeling stronger and stronger. I feel a lot better now than I did at this point last year.”

The positives for George is that he has made tremendous progress and has done everything for rehab. The only thing he hasn’t done yet is scrimmaging practiced in full.

The Sixers are tied to him for another three years under his four-year, $212 million contract.