Although it cane be sore on the eyes to watch Doug McDermott on defense for the Chicago Bulls in his second season, his offensive game is starting to flourish and he’s becoming a legitimate scoring option for the Bulls in the midst of a playoff race.
The Chicago Bulls aren’t good, but Doug McDermott’s game is something that the Bulls can certainly take away from a peak-and-valley year that this season has been.
After an injury-plagued rookie season, along with a lack of minutes given to him by former Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau, McDermott appeared to be heading for the “draft bust” label at a rapid rate.
In just 36 games where he played an average of 8.9 minutes per game, McDermott scored 109 total points on 107 shot attempts and shot an abysmal 31.7 percent from three-point range in his rookie campaign.
Sounds awful, right?
Of course, the coaching change from Thibodeau to former Iowa State head coach and Bulls guard Fred Hoiberg has been well-documented throughout the last year and during the transition, McDermott has become an interesting piece for the Bulls in year two.
No, seriously.
Doug McDermott dunked all over Markieff Morris‘s head and it still doesn’t make sense.
McDermott is doing what he normally did in college and hit the outside shot. Only six — six — players have a higher three-point percentage in the NBA than McDermott’s 42 percent from long range this season. Two of those players have taken less attempts than McDermott’s 212 this season as well.
But, plays like the one above are the kinds of plays that build the curiosity over how good McDermott can be.
Of course, there’s also plays like this one on the other end of the floor where the downside to having McDermott on the floor for an extended period of time can be a little troublesome.
McDermott’s struggles on defense have been a big issue and have brought into question whether or not he can be a valuable piece at this level. You seemingly have to hide him defensively, but this isn’t the Thibodeau-led Bulls on that end of the floor, so it’s harder to do with Hoiberg giving him an increased role.
More bulls: Is Doug McDermott Turning the Corner?
He’s not always playing with the core guys for the Bulls — mostly because they’ve been banged up throughout the year — but his defensive rating is 110, per Basketball-Reference. That rating is the worst on the Bulls roster.
Nobody ever claimed for him to be a defensive stopper coming out of Creighton, but that’s concerning for a player that will most likely be a part of the Bulls’ future.
With every player sans guys like Stephen Curry and Kawhi Leonard, you’re going to have glaring weaknesses. McDermott’s is clearly on the defensive end, but what he can provide offensively might just be too good to give up on moving forward.
What second-year player is taking confident shots like that in the fourth quarter of a tight ballgame? That’s confidence in your shot, along with realizing you’re 6’8″ (a forgotten part of evaluating McDermott) and have a size advantage on Ramon Sessions.
In the last 12 games for the Bulls — including two outbursts against the second-seeded Toronto Raptors in the East — McDermott is averaging 14.5 points per contest on 50.8 percent shooting, while making 42.9 percent of his three-point attempts.
That’s good.
It may be a horrendous experience to watch McDermott defensively, but he’s starting to really look like a guy that the Bulls figured trading two first-round picks was a move that could work out in the end.
Sure, it would be nice to have Gary Harris and Jusuf Nurkic in uniform for the Bulls — the two guys that the Denver Nuggets drafted with the added picks they received from the Bulls — but you at least have to feel more encouraged that McDermott is worth playing 23.2 minutes a night.
The Bulls are technically in the playoffs with 17 games left this season and they’re going to need more than just their health. Guys like Doug McDermott can make the difference between the Bulls making and missing the postseason.
Next: McDermott Keys Huge Bulls Victory in Season Sweep over Toronto
(I know, I know. It doesn’t really matter whether they make it or not because, well, LeBron James would be waiting for them again, but you get the point, right? McDermott is getting better. That’s all.)