NBA Draft: Re-drafting the 2014 NBA Draft’s first round

2014 NBA Redraft: 17. Doug McDermott, Boston Celtics

In his four years at college, Doug McDermott put up 21.7 points per game, including 26.7 a night in his senior season. His 3,150 total collegiate points rank sixth all-time in NCAA Division I basketball, creating a massive hype train that garnered much attention leading up to the 2014 Draft.

He was selected 11th overall by the Denver Nuggets and subsequently traded east to Chicago to start off his NBA career. Since then, the former Creighton alum has found his place in the league as a floor-spacer who has dabbled recently in manning both forward spots.

Standing 6’8” with a quick and fluid release, Dougie McBuckets has had little to no issues getting his shot off against the faster and more athletic defenders of the NBA. He’s a career 40.4 percent 3-point shooter on 2.7 attempts per game. For as many shots as teams are taking these days from beyond the arc, that figure is surprisingly low, one he should maybe look to increase for both his and his team’s sake.

Early in his career, McDermott struggled somewhat inside the arc. His handles were shaky nor did he possess much ability to attack the basket. In his first season with the Indiana Pacers in 2018-19, he posted a career-best 56.9 percentage from 2-point range, an encouraging development which could hopefully lead to an expanded offensive arsenal.

Despite a lack of traditional size, the Pacers experiment with McDermott at power forward for 29.0 percent of his total minutes. Ironically enough, it wound up being his best season in terms of on-court plus/minus.

He played almost exclusively on the wing early in his career, but as most teams downsize their lineups, it’s possible that the best of Doug McDermott is yet to come. For someone with plenty of expectations coming out of college, it’s about damn time.