Between the Oklahoma City Thunder’s back-to-back games, the Sunday catastrophe remained the biggest concern in the NBA world. The veterans on NBA on NBC were also left shaken after seeing the brutal way Jalen Williams went down with a dislocated ankle. Leading up to OKC’s immediate game against the Phoenix Suns, Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady had to outline the reality for the shorthanded Thunder’s championship aspirations that have been severely compromised following catastrophic injuries to key starters Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace.
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Ahmed Fareed, Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, and Tracy McGrady broke down the immense challenge facing reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder. T-Mac singled out 22-year-old guard, Jared McCain as the player who must elevate his play to keep OKC in the title hunt.
The NBC discussion opened with host Ahmed Fareed posing the central question facing the franchise: “Can they win a championship without [Jalen] Williams and Cason Wallace?”
T-Mac was direct in his assessment, pointing out that OKC’s offseason roster turnover, which saw key departures of Lu Dort, Aaron Wiggins, and Isaiah Joe, leaves the team with little margin for error.
“No, I don’t think they could,” McGrady said. “Considering they lost Wiggins, they lost Lu Dort, and they lost one more player, which was [Isaiah Joe], who was key to that success. And for me, it’s, can your young guys get better? You have [Alex] Caruso, who’s a vet, I think is going to have to step his game up. You’re going to have Jared McCain. Can he step his game up to another level and fill the role for those guys that’s left and J-Dub? So, I think those guys have to do so much with what they lost. I just think it’s a tall task for how deep the West is and how great, you know, the top guys in the West.”
T-Mac is one of the many analysts and fans speculating if Jared McCain is ready for the responsibility right after a trade.
He also named Alex Caruso. Little did he know Caruso would also have to leave the game against the Suns in the second quarter. He was ruled out for the rest of the game with a right ankle sprain, and OKC is yet to confirm his status for the next game.
Amid OKC’s mounting setbacks, McGrady’s cousin, Vince Carter, echoed McGrady’s concerns, highlighting how the team needs a secondary playmaker in Williams’ and Wallace’s absences to take the load off Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
“I agree. I think they’re very competitive. They will be competitive,” Carter said. “But when you lose a guy like J-Dub, who is a guy who could take some pressure off of SGA as far as putting the ball in his hands, allowing SGA to play one-on-one on the other side, and then Cason Wallace, a guy who takes a lot of pressure also off SGA guarding the best player… Do they have enough guys to offset? We’ve seen Detroit struggle with Cade Cunningham having to do so much to where he wore down. This could be one of those situations. I do think they still have a lot of guys who are very capable, but you’re missing so much on the offensive end. This hurts.”
The panel’s sobering analysis follows official confirmation from General Manager Sam Presti that both Williams and Wallace require surgeries.
Williams dislocated his left ankle and fractured his fibula in the lead-up to Sunday’s victory over the Los Angeles Clippers, while Wallace sustained a severe torn labrum in his left shoulder during a collision. Both starters are expected to miss significant portions of the 2026–27 campaign if not the entire season, pushing head coach Mark Daigneault to completely reconfigure his starting lineup.
With Williams and Wallace sidelined, all eyes turned to Jared McCain, Alex Caruso, and Ajay Mitchell to fill their void ahead of Monday night’s matchup against the Suns. Acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers at the 2026 trade deadline for a package of draft picks, McCain was thrust into the spotlight alongside fellow guard Ajay Mitchell.
McCain immediately answered T-Mac’s challenge during Monday’s 125–114 victory over Phoenix. Logging 30 minutes in his first start of the season, the new OKC guard recorded 18 points, three rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block while knocking down 4-of-7 attempts from the three-point line. He provided critical offensive balance alongside Mitchell’s career-high 30-point performance and SGA’s 26 points to keep the Thunder undefeated for four games.
The trade that brought McCain to OKC was initially viewed as an asset steal, but Williams’ long-term absence places a much heavier spotlight on his development. While Ajay Mitchell is emerging as a primary ball-handler in the starting unit, McCain must consistently deliver the perimeter depth previously provided by Joe and Wiggins.
If McCain can maintain his momentum and sustain his production, the Thunder may yet stay afloat in a hyper-competitive Western Conference while supporting SGA through a grueling regular season.