Indiana Pacers Love/Hate Series: Doug McDermott

What we hate about Doug McDermott

McDermott is a specialist and will very much likely fulfill his role in at least some satisfying capacity.

Still, though, there is a lot to be desired from the former lottery pick. Inconsistency has plagued his time as an NBA player – while he certainly hasn’t been on many competitive teams in his career, there’s something to be said that he’s been an expendable piece of every team he’s been on despite his excellent marksmanship.

His shooting hasn’t always been consistent either. While he’s always been able to maintain an elite percentage (except in his 2016-17 season when he dipped well below 40%), the areas in which he’s sinking shots has been spotty.

More from Pacers News

• Pacers’ Daniel Theis dominated Team USA in Germany’s semifinal win
• 3 Players who could beat out Tyrese Haliburton for 2024 USA Olympics
• Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton takes step back in Team USA loss to Germany
• Pacers fans get angry at Tyrese Haliburton’s NBA 2K24 rating reveal
• Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton unveils lofty goal with Team USA

For example, between the Mavericks and Knicks last year, McDermott shot an impressive 50.9% from the corner three spot. Glenn Robinson III, Damien Wilkins, and even Darren Collison occupied a corner three role at times last season, but McDermott’s numbers at his volume last season would be a major positive change for the Pacers.

During his Bulls days, though, that corner three figure was 40.2%. Sure, he was just getting his feet under him in the league, but he did play a full four years at Creighton.

Then during his short stint in Oklahoma City, that corner three number dropped to 35.3%. Neither of those numbers would make McDermott much of a threat at all from the corner, which is one of the key areas the Indiana Pacers need him to be dominant in.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Look at this table and try to find any sort of consistency over McDermott’s four years of professional play. He doesn’t always have it, even though when he is on he’s really on. It’s good when he hits high highs, but it won’t be pretty to see his low lows.

Again, it’s possible that much of this can be explained merely by the teams he played on and the offensive opportunity (or lack thereof) he was given, but with all of the volatility McDermott has experienced in his young NBA career, it’s impossible to predict just how well McDermott will mesh with the Indiana Pacers.

This distinction matters, too — the difference between McDermott as a good shooter and McDermott as an elite shooter is essentially the difference between him getting NBA minutes and him being shipped off to his next destination before February.

This distinction matters, too — the difference between McDermott as a good shooter and McDermott as an elite shooter is essentially the difference between him getting NBA minutes and him being shipped off to his next destination before February.

And although much of McDermott’s value and the reason he’s in Indiana is tied to his shooting, he still will have to be on the floor during defensive possessions, too. And he is not a good defender, by any metric. His career average in defensive box score plus/minus is a -2.3. That matches Joe Young’s score from last season and approaches T.J. Leaf’s. Yeah, that’s not good.

He just isn’t a comfortable defender. Take a quick look at what a simple screen does to McDermott’s composure and footwork. He’s out of position and chasing with no chance of stopping his opponent.

Players feast on McDermott in one-on-one situations – he just doesn’t have NBA level defensive instincts. Given his struggles on that end of the floor, it will take a lot of elite shooting on the other end to justify his contract. He has shown that ability and will have likely the best team fit in his career, but if he ever gets cold from deep, there’s going to be a lot to hate (see: Bojan Bogdanovic from last December).