McDermott showed flashes, struggles
Doug McDermott couldn’t have been more excited to join the Thunder.
For the 25-year-old, he always thought of himself as a Thunder-type player. He looked up to fellow Midwesterner Nick Collison. When he was a skinny 6-foot-6, 180-pound high schooler in Ames, Iowa, McDermott and his father traveled to Oklahoma City to watch the Thunder play in its first ever playoff series against the Lakers in 2010.
Little did McDermott know he’d become
a Thunder player three seasons into his NBA career. The sharpshooter could be an important part of the team’s future with another roster shake-up expected this offseason.
At small forward, Andre Roberson is a restricted free agent who couldn’t come to terms on an extension with the Thunder earlier in the season. At power forward, Taj Gibson — who arrived in a deadline day trade with McDermott in February from Chicago — is an unrestricted free agent, 31 years old, and possibly looking at a final payday.
Enter McDermott. He’s nowhere near replacing either Roberson or Gibson defensively, but he fits the mold of today’s NBA at the forward spots.
Now 6-8 and 225 pounds, McDermott doesn’t want to pigeonhole himself into one position.
“The way the league is trending, it’s getting smaller with a lot of small ball and guys that can really spread the floor regardless of their position,” McDermott said last week. “I feel like I’m just a basketball player. I don’t really feel like there’s a specific position whenever I’m out there, whether it’s moving without the ball, whether it’s doing as much as I can to spread the floor and make it easier on my teammates.”
McDermott was brought in to add ease to the Thunder’s scoring. He did that in flashes, hitting 36.2 percent of his 3-pointers and scoring 12.1 points per 36 minutes in 22 games with the Thunder this season.
He added the deep option the Thunder craved since the departure of Kevin Durant and trade of Serge Ibaka. Despite limited attempts, per Sports VU, McDermott had the Thunder’s best percentage on shots from 25-29 feet (11-of24, 45.8 percent) and finished 37.2 percent from 3-point range this season in 66 games between Chicago and Oklahoma City.
The shot making translated to the postseason, as McDermott made 7-of13 3-point attempts in the Thunder’s five-game playoff series against the Rockets.
Add in his positive contract (signed through 2017-18 at $3.29 million) and it’s no wonder why Thunder general manager Sam Presti said McDermott “fits the profile of the type of guys that have success here.”
McDermott said he’s going to stick around and train with the Thunder’s Summer League team before it leaves for Orlando. One of his focal points should clearly be defense.
He may never be a great defender, but McDermott’s awareness and lateral quickness has to improve in order to lower a team-worst 113.0 defensive rating.
Get down even to Alex Abrines’ 108.3 and McDermott can become a weapon the Thunder can keep on the floor more.
“There’s going to be some struggles,” Presti said of McDermott and Abrines. “It takes five guys to play defense. The best teams are able to keep their shooting on the floor because they have great rim protection, and they have a good system.”
The Thunder’s style of play made a mark on McDermott even before he matriculated to Creighton or Chicago. As he watched from the stands as the Thunder embarked on its first playoff run, he envisioned himself playing alongside Russell Westbrook.
When he finally got to play against Westbrook, he thought the Thunder guard was crazy.
“I still think he’s crazy,” McDermott joked.
Now McDermott is tasked with making Westbrook’s job easier. He could get ample opportunity in Year 2 Post Durant.
“Playing with a guy like Russ who likes to push it, as well, I think it can only improve my game,” McDermott said. “It’s a small sample size out there, just not being able to play as many games, getting traded so late.
“Now that I got my feet wet a little in the Western Conference, I feel like I can really have a good year next year and really help this team.”