Former Indiana Pacers forward Doug McDermott has announced his retirement from the NBA. While he was never anything special as an athlete or player, McDermott was simply decent at doing just about anything a team would need. It's why he managed to stick around in the league for 12 years.
McDermott was an excellent shooter for his size and found most of his value as a floor spacer for the Pacers, and then eventually for the San Antonio Spurs and Sacramento Kings.
Now, obviously, if the Pacers had any interest in adding the veteran forward and franchise legend, they would have done so far earlier than this point. Heck, McDermott would not have retired if he had any opportunities to continue playing in the NBA. The check is simply too good to pass up.
So even though it may be obvious that this will never happen, and even though it may be a useless thought exercise to even think about it, let's take a little deep dive into just who McDermott was as a player and how good he could be for this current Pacers team.
McBuckets got shots up, and that was it.
Dougie McBuckets, as he was so lovingly known, was signed by the Pacers in the summer of 2018 after he had spent five years bouncing around the league after being drafted 11th overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2014 draft.
The player he was at Creighton never ended up being the player he became, but without the pressure of living up to his lottery pick status, McDermott became a capable player in Indiana.
He would end up spending more years there than at any other team in his career, playing four seasons in the blue and yellow. Across his career in Indiana, he would shoot over 40% from three, culminating in his 2021 season when he averaged career highs in minutes per game, points per game, field goal percentage, and rebounds per game.
He was by no means a world beater, but was a capable piece of a decent team. He even overlapped with Tyrese Haliburton for a little while.
On today's Pacers, McDermott would be a reliable fourth forward for a team that badly needs depth at that position. His shooting ability would give Aaron Nesmith some breathing room as the only true specialist on this roster, and he would likely be a near-ideal fit alongside Ivica Zubac.
Good forwards are hard to come by nowadays in the NBA, and with the retirement of a useful, decent option for the locker room and the court, it's clear the league lost one.
Congrats, Doug. May retirement treat you well. There's always a spot-up opportunity from the corner if you want it.
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