Promising Sixers rookie guard Jared McCain suffered a hard fall late in the fourth quarter of Philadelphia’s Wednesday preseason game against the Nets. He was down for a while, according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps (Twitter link), but he was able to get up on his own power.
Head coach Nick Nurse said McCain went to the hospital to be evaluated and the Sixers announced he’d be checked for a concussion, according to Bontemps.
McCain was re-evaluated on Thursday afternoon and was diagnosed with a pulmonary contusion, but has not displayed symptoms consistent with a concussion (Twitter link via NBA insider Chris B. Haynes). McCain is out for Friday’s preseason finale against the Magic and will continue to be evaluated daily.
Missing McCain for any time is a blow for the Sixers, but avoiding a concussion is good news for the young guard. He’s been a preseason revelation for the team, averaging 12.8 points and shooting 37.9% on 5.8 three-point attempts per game.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Sixers forward Guerschon Yabusele made headlines in the Olympics after playing well for the French national team, parlaying that into a contract with Philadelphia, his first since the 2018/19 season. Andscape’s Marc J. Spears details Yabusele’s return to the league in a recent feature. “My advice is just work hard, never give up and make your dream come true. If you want it, you’re going to have to go get it,” Yabusele said.
- Raptors guardImmanuel Quickley went through a full practice on Thursday for the first time since the start of training camp, Josh Lewenerg of TSN reports (Twitter link). He’s questionable for the team’s Friday preseason finale against Brooklyn. According to Sportsnet.ca’s Michael Grange (Twitter link), Quickley is still sporting a brace on his thumb. Meanwhile, RJ Barrett is still recovering from shoulder surgery and will not travel for the preseason finale. The hope for Barrett is that he’s ready for the start of the regular season, but there are no guarantees. Ja’Kobe Walter is dealing with the same shoulder injury as Barrett but he’s about 10 days ahead in the recovery process, according to Lewenberg. He has yet to be cleared for contact.
- With Quickley soon to return and Davion Mitchell and Jamal Shead both playing well in the preseason, it seemed possible that the Raptors could roll with Shead in the regular season rotation. According to Lewenberg (Twitter link), it seems likely that Shead begins the year in the rotation, which leaves him as the third string point guard. “I think it’s amazing that we have three point guards, and in practice you could see that everybody is pushing each other,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said. “Davion is making Quickley better. Jamal is making Davion better. They’re really, really competing and every team wishes for that. When you have more players competing for the same spot, it makes everybody better.”
- With the Celtics cutting all their training camp contract guys except for Lonnie Walker IV, it puts the seventh-year guard in the spotlight ahead of final cuts. Souichi Terada of MassLive ultimately believes Boston will waive Walker, as keeping him for the season would cost upward of $10MM in tax penalties due to their position against the second apron and they’ve recently kept that 15th roster spot open.
- Earlier this offseason, former Knicks manager of coaching analytics Nick Restifo left for the Hawks to be their director of basketball research. According to Fred Katz of The Athletic (Twitter link), the Knicks hired CB Garrett, previously with the Bucks, to replace him.