Indiana Pacers Love/Hate Series: Doug McDermott
By Ryan Eggers
The Indiana Pacers made their first major move in free agency soon after the midnight opening on July 1, signing Doug McDermott to a 3-year, $22 million deal. While McDermott is famous for his 3-point marksmanship, he brings a lot more to love (and to hate) in this upcoming season.
While the rest of the NBA world refreshed their computers as they awaited the new (or not so new) destinations for superstars like LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George, the Indiana Pacers began their quietly solid offseason right at the stroke of midnight. Very soon after, Pacers fans had their first drop of real free agency news amidst the wave of rumors that had been crashing into Twitter for weeks. They had acquired Doug McDermott.
By the time the dust had settled, the reviews on McDermott were a bit mixed, with enthusiasm on one side and hesitation on the other. After being drafted by the Nuggets at No. 11 overall in 2014, McDermott hasn’t been able to settle in any particular city throughout his NBA career.
The Bulls immediately traded him on draft night (the Bulls traded up for him, giving away the No. 16 and 19 picks, which ended up being… Jusuf Nurkić and Gary Harris), and Douggie began bouncing around NBA teams during his third year in the league.
Which brings us to today. At 26 years old, the Pacers are McDermott’s fifth team (sixth if you count the Nuggets) in his soon-to-be five years in the NBA. On the cusp of being a perennial journeyman, the Pacers offered him a reasonable three-year deal worth a total of $22 million.
$22 million isn’t a light investment, especially considering that McDermott is on the books for the next three years. He’s currently the only player on the roster other than Victor Oladipo who is penciled in for the 2020 season.
If things don’t work out and McDermott isn’t a glove fit for the Pacers, they’ll be scrambling to pass that contract off to someone else.
But there may be a reason to believe this is the franchise a guy like McDermott has been waiting for. Here’s a reminder of the stops on Dougie’s journey so far: struggling Bulls, Russell Westbrooks (the 2016-17 season was not fun for anyone else on that team), the recently awful Knicks and the Mavericks. He hasn’t necessarily been on an offense that can cater to his strengths.
And his strength is a big one. McDermott finished his 2017-18 season out last year with the Mavericks, and he shot, wait for it, 49.4% from deep with a 61.1 TS% in 26 games. He’s one of the best deep threats in the league, and even his array of awkward team fits hasn’t stopped him from shooting over 40% from the arc for his career.
His shooting isn’t all there is to love, though. And on the other side of the coin, everything won’t be smooth sailing for McDermott and the Pacers either. He has strengths and weaknesses in his game, and the Pacers need to know how to best utilize him on the bench if they want their money to be well spent.