Indiana Pacers: 4 threats to pry Doug McDermott away from the team

Threat to sign Indiana Pacers’ Doug McDermott: New York Knicks

After an essentially renaissance season, the New York Knicks managed to climb in the top-4 of the conference with a 41-31 record and halted a tumultuous seven-year playoff drought. Behind breakout star Julius Randle and Coach of the Year recipient Tom Thibodeau, the Knickerbockers finally attained an identity to build on for the future.

While they went out embarrassingly to the 5th-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs, the Knicks will have a world of flexibility going into the offseason. Projected to have the most cap space in the league, New York will have loads of cash to spend in free agency, despite the upcoming crop being relatively weak with stars having re-signed with their teams already.

New York will hunt stars like DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry, but they will still have substantial money to throw at players if they acquire the big names. In this sense, Doug McDermott can easily find himself with the Knicks, especially with the team struggling on offense despite bannering a suffocating defense.

The Knicks were second in the league in three-point accuracy, but only hoisted 30 triples per game, good for 27th in the campaign. The Hawks exploited this, as Randle and Derrick Rose, their only reliable creators, are not reliable from downtown. Reggie Bullock and Alec Burks, their best shooters, are impending free agents and while both would certainly want to return, they won’t be nearly enough. McDermott can easily be a 20-25 minutes guy who can give Randle more room to isolate and cause damage.