‘Definition of a professional’
Veteran Mcdermott stays ready, helps Wemby get 1st career triple-double
Doug Mcdermott threw in his fourth 3-pointer of the fourth quarter Wednesday, and the crowd at Little Caesar’s Arena cheered.
It took the Spurs guard a beat to realize the ovation wasn’t for him.
“I heard the crowd erupt,” Mcdermott said after the Spurs’ 130-108 win over Detroit. “I assumed that was for something Victor (Wembanyama) did and not something I did.”
Indeed, Mcdermott’s final field goal of the Spurs’ most lopsided victory of the season gave Wembanyama the 10th assist he needed for his first career triple-double.
The 20-year-old rookie added 16 points and 12 rebounds to his box score on a milestone night.
As far as clutch baskets go in the Spurs’ 6-30 start to the season, Mcdermott’s might have been the most pressurized. Wembanyama was nearing his 25-minute restriction near the end of a blowout win, and his time on the floor was numbered.
Unaware of Wembanyama’s approaching triple-double at the time, Mcdermott felt little anxiety letting his final left-wing 3-pointer fly.
“I didn’t know about it,” Mcdermott said. “I’m glad I didn’t know about it.” Wembanyama received the kudos – and the game ball – after his groundbreaking game against the Pistons.
Give a tip of the cap to Mcdermott, too.
His 14-point performance off the bench – with all of it scored in the fourth quarter – came one game after Mcdermott took his first non-injury related DNP of the season in a Spurs loss at Cleveland.
In simply showing up and staying ready, the 32-year-old Mcdermott displayed the sort of veteran leadership the Spurs hope rubs off on the youngest roster in the NBA.
“He’s the definition of a profes
point guard Tre Jones said before Friday’s game against Charlotte at the Frost Bank Center.“he doesn’t get down when he doesn’t play. He’s cheering on everybody. On days off, he’s going to the gym and getting extra work in, making sure he stays in shape.
“It speaks to the kind of professional and the kind of teammate he is.”
Before breaking out in Detroit, Mcdermott had not appeared in a game since a Jan. 2 defeat at Memphis.
He missed the Spurs’ loss at home to Milwaukee with a forearm contusion Jan. 4 before recording his DNP against the Cavaliers on Sunday.
“I just try to stick with the same routine every day,” Mcdermott said. “If I’m not playing, I’ll try to get a little extra conditioning after the game. That’s just something you’ve got to do as a pro.”
In his 10th NBA season, and third with the Spurs, Mcdermott has seen his playing time dip to 15.9 minutes per game. It is his fewest since he averaged 8.9 minutes in 36 games as a rookie with Chicago in 2014-15.
Heading into Friday’s game, Mcdermott was averaging 6.1 points, also his fewest since his rookie season.
He has been effective when he does play, hitting 3-pointers at a career-best rate of 45.8 percent.
As the oldest player on the Spurs’ roster, Mcdermott’s minutes have been a casualty of the club’s ongoing youth movement.
Set to earn $13.75 milsional,” lion this season, he is also the team’s secondhighest paid player behind Keldon Johnson. As such, Mcdermott is likely to become a trade candidate as next month’s NBA trade deadline approaches.
For now, Mcdermott remains a role model in a locker room of players still learning on the job. “He’s been a number of places and played with some of the best players in the league,” Jones said. “He has a ton of experience in the NBA. He’s been a great leader for those younger guys.”
And on those nights Mcdermott’s presence is required on the court — to, say, salvage a tripledouble for the team’s rookie sensation – he vows to be ready for that, too.
“You never know what can happen,” Mcdermott said. “There’s 82 games, anything can happen and they’re going to need you at some point. You’ve got to try to stay with that mind set every day.”
Derozan praises Wembanyama
With the Spurs’ medical staff still prohibiting Wembanyama from playing on both ends of backto-backs, the NBA’S No. 1 overall draft pick is a safe bet to miss Saturday’s game against Chicago at the Frost Bank Center.
That is just fine with Demar Derozan. The Bulls have seen enough of Wembanyama’s havocwreaking defense already.
“He’s going to be a scary defender,” said Derozan, Chicago’s Allstar guard and a former Spur. “He affects people’s shots down there even if he doesn’t get a hand on them. You definitely have to be aware.”
Thanks to a quirk in the NBA schedule wrought by the advent of the league’s inaugural In-season Tournament, the Spurs and Bulls have played twice already this season.
Saturday’s meeting will mark the first time the Spurs have played an Eastern Conference team thrice in the same campaign since moving the Western Conference in 1980-81.
The Spurs lost both meetings against Chicago in December, one at home and one away, but Wembanyama turned heads. The 7-foot-3 Frenchman averaged 14 points, 12.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in those contests.
He left Derozan impressed, for one.
“You don’t see nothing like that,” said Derozan, a six-time NBA All-star. “You don’t see anyone else in our league that’s that skilled and athletic (at that size). His awareness is incredible for just being a rookie.”
In a way, Derozan and Wembanyama will forever be linked in Spurs lore.
Derozan’s trade to Chicago in the summer of 2021 kick-started the rebuilding process that put the Spurs in position to draft Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick two years later.
Having spent three seasons with the Spurs, Derozan is rooting for their reconstruction project to succeed.
“I’ll always have a certain type of admiration for this place,” Derozan said. “It’s a hell of an organization, a hell of a fan base. It’s just going to take time. When they do get to that point, it’s going to be fun all the time.”