Doug McDermott

McDermott has never been able to live up to the hype that came with being the 11th overall pick in the 2014 Draft. He flopped with the Bulls but finally found some footing as a member of the Pacers. His best season was the 2020-21 campaign, and that ultimately resulted in him signing a three-year contract with the Spurs before last season. He appeared in 51 games for San Antonio, averaging 11.3 points and 2.1 three-pointers while shooting 46.2 percent from the field. He provides very little in terms of rebounds and assists, and virtually nothing in the way of defensive stats, which limits his fantasy value. Also of concern is that he is now one of the few veterans on a rebuilding team that likely has intentions of tanking. That could mean more rest days for him down the stretch. That said, if you're hunting for a source for three-pointers late in your draft, McDermott is worth a look because he has a favorable chance of at least playing significant minutes at the beginning of the season.

After six years of mediocre play, the 29-year-old put together the best campaign of his career last season. Coming into the 2020-21 season, McDermott had just 23 career starts under his belt, but he eclipsed that total in just one year after starting 29 games for Indiana. The sharpshooting forward posted career-highs in nearly every major category, as he averaged 13.6 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 24.5 minutes per game while shooting 38.8 percent from beyond the arc. This was the most aggressive version of McDermott we'd seen, as his 10.1 field-goal attempts per game were his first time reaching double-digit tries in his career. The 6-foot-7 wing's improved play caught the attention of the Spurs, as both sides agreed on a three-year, $42 million deal in the offseason. McDermott enters San Antonio with a legit chance to improve upon his career year and potentially be in the starting lineup following the departures of DeMar DeRozan, Rudy Gay, and Trey Lyles. However, the Spurs do still have plenty of pieces at the forward position -- namely, the emerging Keldon Johnson and newly-acquired options Thaddeus Young and Zach Collins. Last year's first-round pick, Devin Vassell, is also entering his second season. So while McDermott will see competition for minutes, his three-point shooting ability (career 40.7% 3PT) should enable him to carve out a significant role. For fantasy purposes, however, McDermott is essentially a single-category specialist who doesn't offer much else.

In his second season with Indiana, McDermott saw his minutes increase off the bench, as he set new career highs in several categories. The sixth-year NBAer out of Creighton did what he does best and drained threes at a blistering pace. His 10.3 points, 1.9 triples, 1.1 assists and 43.5 percent shooting from downtown were all the best marks of his career, and McDermott drained at least 40 percent of his threes for the fourth time in five years. McDermott has earned regular playing time in Indiana's rotation, and he should continue to see a healthy number of minutes off the bench in 2020-21. He's worth adding in the later rounds of fantasy drafts as a quality contributor in the shooting and three-point categories.

Over his first five seasons, McDermott hasn't come close to validating his status as the 11th overall pick of the 2014 draft. However, the sharpshooting wing has been an offensive asset off the bench and as an occasional starter for six different squads. He'll begin a second consecutive season with the same club, the Pacers, for the first time since he kicked off the 2016-17 campaign with the Bulls. McDermott cleared the 40.0 percent mark (40.8) from three-point range for the second straight season last year as part of a career-best 49.7 percent success rate from the floor. The 27-year-old did see his minutes tumble to their lowest point since his rookie 2014-15 campaign, as he averaged a modest 17.4 minutes across 77 contests overall. His playing time prospects don't appear to be appreciably better heading into the new season, either. While Bojan Bogdanovic did head west to Utah in free agency, the trio of T.J. Warren, Jeremy Lamb and Justin Holiday all arrived in Indiana via the same method. That once again projects to leave McDermott with minutes in the teens on many nights, and averages that could very well be in the neighborhood of the 7.3 points and 1.4 rebounds he averaged last season. McDermott has never offered any appreciable production outside of those two categories and in shooting percentages, so he'll overwhelmingly remain a deep-league consideration with long-shot chances of utility in shallower formats unless multiple injuries strike players in front of him.

McDermott split the 2017-18 campaign between the Mavericks and Knicks, combining to play 81 games between the two teams. He played particularly well with Dallas over the final 26 games of the season, averaging 9.0 points and shooting a superb 49.4 percent from three-point land. McDermott added 2.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists, but he's never been much of a contributor in the ancillary stat categories and the lack of production there wasn't anything out of the ordinary. While he was expected to receive plenty of interest as a free agent due to his floor-spacing ability, McDermott's offer from the Pacers likely blew away any others he may have received. The two sides ultimately agreed to a three-year, $22 million contract, which immediately raised some eyebrows as a potential overpay. Either way, McDermott now heads to Indiana where his contract indicates he should be a member of the regular rotation right away. He'll likely slot in behind Bojan Bogdanovic at small forward and should also see some time as a small-ball power forward as well, which should allow the 26-year-old to increase his workload by a few minutes after averaging 21.8 minutes last year. That said, even if McDermott does see an uptick in his playing time, his main contributions for Fantasy purposes will continue to be his three-point totals and percentages.

The league is still waiting on McDermott to prove himself worthy of rotational minutes, and the Bulls seemingly came to their own conclusion when they traded away the 25-year-old to the Thunder in February. His value is almost entirely wrapped up in his ability to stretch the floor as a power forward. He shot just 37 percent from behind the arc last season with Chicago and Oklahoma City -- only one percentage point above league average -- which is hardly good enough since it’s his only positive attribute as a player. On top of that, the former Creighton standout saw his opportunity for extended minutes decrease with the offseason additions of Paul George and Patrick Patterson, although McDermott still seems capable of reaching the 19.5 minutes he averaged with Oklahoma City last season despite his limited skill set and the new personnel.

McDermott followed up a quiet rookie season in which he appeared in only 36 games with a strong sophomore campaign. The former Creighton star logged 81 appearances, averaging 9.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game while shooting 45.2 percent from the field. One of the most prolific shooters in college basketball in recent years, McDermott struggled from beyond the arc as a rookie (31.7%) but rebounded to shoot 42.5 percent from beyond the arc on 3.2 attempts per game last season. That's the kind of marksmanship the Bulls expected when they selected McDermott with the 11th overall pick in the 2014 draft. At this point in his development, McDermott is more of a three-point specialist than anything else, and there's where most of his fantasy value will come. He doesn't do enough as a rebounder or playmaker to bring considerable value, but McDermott's proficiency from deep, on what should be an increased volume this season, makes him worth a late-round consideration.

The Bulls traded up in last year's draft to grab McDermott as they desperately needed to add some shooting to their roster. However, McDermott's rookie season was largely marred by a knee injury that limited him to only 36 games. He finished the season averaging 3.0 points, 1.2 rebounds, 0.2 assists, 0.1 steals, and 0.4 three-pointers in nine minutes per game. Although he is known for his three-point shooting, McDermott hit only 32 percent from behind the arc. The Bulls roster is largely unchanged from last season, but McDermott might be able to carve out a larger role this season if he can stay healthy. New coach Fred Hoiberg is expected to run a faster offense than coach Tom Thibodeau did last season, and he might implement some smaller lineups, possibly creating more opportunities for McDermott. His game is similar to that of fellow shooting guard/small forward Mike Dunleavy who just re-signed with the team for three years, so McDermott is going to have to make some significant strides on both ends of the court to get more playing time.

One look at what Chicago gave up to get McDermott in this summer's draft speaks volumes about what the organization thinks of the former Naismith Award winner. Chicago gave up two 2014 first-round picks in addition to a 2015 second-rounder. McDermott spent four years at Creighton polishing his impressive offensive repertoire and now looks to translate his scoring prowess to the pros. In his senior season, he averaged 26.7 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.2 steals, and 0.1 blocks in 34 minutes per game. A frequent victim of double-teams and defensive focus, McDermott was still able to put together his most productive college season. The pick appears to make complete sense for the Bulls, who have lacked a scoring punch without Derrick Rose on the court. McDermott's value largely stems from his ability to shoot the rock. In his four years at Creighton, he shot 46 percent from deep. The Bulls, perhaps more than any other team in the NBA, could use another deep threat. Chicago ranked dead last in team scoring last season and 23rd in three-point percentage. As much as McDermott may struggle defensively, Thibodeau can't ignore the team's offensive impotence for another season. There should be enough stoppers to mask the rookie's weaknesses and allow him to contribute some major minutes for this Bulls team. Fantasy owners should practice patience in attempting to gauge exactly what kind of value McDermott provides, especially as a rookie. If he can continue to shoot it like he did in college, it could pay big dividends, particularly in head-to-head leagues that value three-point shooting.