Indiana Pacers: Passing up on Doug McDermott proved to be the right call

The Indiana Pacers have made some questionable moves in the last offseason, which arguably stems from the team’s tendency to reward loyalty more than most. However, one exception to that is former Pacers forward Doug McDermott, who donned a different jersey last season.

Sent to the San Antonio Spurs in a sign-and-trade, McDermott found himself in Texas despite registering a career-year for Indiana in the 2020-21 season. Staying true to form, the sharpshooter remained one of the most lethal three-point weapons in the league, shooting 42.2 percent from downtown on a career-high 2.1 makes per game with the Silver and Black.

Still, given the current state of the Pacers, passing up on the eight-year veteran ultimately proved to be the right call. Here’s why.

The Indiana Pacers dodged a bullet with Doug McDermott’s expensive free agency

Retaining Doug McDermott was always going to be a relatively expensive proposition for the Indiana Pacers. While they had his Bird rights back then, in hindsight, keeping him would have limited the front office in how they can maneuver entering a crucial offseason.

McDermott’s status then was hinged on how the Pacers would deal with TJ McConnell, who was also on an expiring deal then. However, between the two, it was a tougher picture for Indiana to cut ties with the latter, who remains a top-tier backup point guard in the league when healthy.

Aside from the money talks, retaining McDermott would have exacerbated some of the team’s issues this season. While he could have certainly upped the Pacers’ meager three-point shooting efficiency, the team’s defense already loitered around the bottom of the league all season, and giving meaningful minutes to a non-defender like him would have given Indiana an expensive one-trick cog whose current contract (a tad below $14 million annually) would have been really bad.

Instead, the Pacers replaced his services using the NBA Draft with Chris Duarte, who proved to be a steal for them with the 13th pick. Better yet, the minutes that McDermott would have gotten were relegated to great reclamation projects that the team currently have on the roster.

In the end, the Indiana Pacer made the right call. Doug McDermott was a quality role player during his time in the Circle City, but he was simply too expensive to keep for a franchise in flux back then. Hopefully, this is a disposition that the front office shows as they deal with tougher decisions to make regarding their veteran cogs in a rebuilding phase.