Jared McCain might be the fourth star, but 76ers are running out of time

Jared McCain has been far and away the best rookie in the NBA to date, stacking four straight 20-plus point performances with Tyrese Maxey on the sideline due to injury. It's a bit early for grand proclamations, but McCain is giving off strong perennial All-Star vibes. He just has such a well-rounded and dynamic skill set; it's hard to poke holes in the 20-year-old's approach right now.

That is incredible news for the Philadelphia 76ers. The potential unearthing of a fourth star next to Joel Embiid, Paul George, and Tyrese Maxey — one that's locked up for four years on a minuscule, rookie-scale contract — should have a profound impact on Philadelphia's title hunt.

And yet, despite McCain quickly working his way into fan-favorite territory, the mood around the Sixers organization is less than ideal. Philadelphia is 2-10 with a rapidly descending window of opportunity. There's still time, as the fourth-place Knicks are a mere four games ahead of the Sixers, but it's historically difficult to recover from a 2-10 start, regardless of the circumstances.

Joel Embiid made just his second appearance of the season in Friday's NBA Cup loss to the Orlando Magic. Paul George is still clearly working his way back into a rhythm. And, of course, Maxey is still out with a hamstring injury. The Sixers are full of excuses, but dropping a winnable game in Orlando, with two of three stars available and McCain looking the part of star No. 4, is hard to overlook. This team needs to get its act together, fast.

We discussed McCain, Philadelphia's injury woes, and the reasons for both optimism and urgency with this team in the latest episode of The Sixer Sense Podcast.

Jared McCain is trying his best to save the 76ers, but can they be saved?

It's impossible to overstate how good Jared McCain has been over the last four games. For a week and change, he has effectively been the 76ers' best player. Will that hold up long term? Probably not, assuming Embiid, George, and Maxey can return to some semblance of their standard forms. That said, McCain's skill set is the perfect fit — at least offensively — for what the Sixers need in a "fourth star."

McCain has proven that he can handle on-ball responsibilities and create his own offense at a high level, perhaps more effectively than he ever did at Duke. But, most encouraging of all is McCain's scalability. He's a knockdown movement shooter, which tends to play well next to Embiid, and his processing speed is lightning quick. McCain's read-and-react ability is miles ahead of his peers. He is constantly relocating into open space, making decisive cuts to the rim, and connecting dots with rapid-fire passes in the flow of the offense. There are some eerily Steph Curry-esque moments out there.

McCain does not need the ball to impact winning and influence the 76ers offense. He is going to fit into whichever lineup combination Nick Nurse throws out there. It's just a matter of, well, putting a lineup around McCain that can actually win games. Right now, with Embiid moving at half-speed and George in a funk, there's not much support out there. Philadelphia's entire operation ground to a halt in the second half of Friday's loss, with Embiid gassed and the supporting cast in shambles. It was McCain versus the world, and that's not a sustainable path to victory.

Philadelphia has all the necessary pieces to win at the highest level this season. With the blessing of full health, this team would stack up credibly with Boston, OKC, or any contender in the league. McCain's ascent gives the Philly offense an entirely new dynamic we couldn't have foreseen. This kid was barely in the rotation when the campaign started. Now he's forcing Nick Nurse's hand into a full-time starting gig.

All the numbers back up McCain's excellence.

This feels like more than a passing heater. Everything McCain is doing is repeatable. The process, fittingly, has been exceptional.

Here's to hoping Philadelphia can muster the necessary production elsewhere to support McCain. That's not a sentence anybody anticipated typing before the season, but it's where we are. Four games out of homecourt advantage seems doable now, but that gap will expand quickly if the Sixers let it. The East is a cakewalk this season, but Philadelphia needs to start doing some walking, lest they start getting confused for the cake.