Doug McDermott is the odd man out. He joined the San Antonio Spurs in the summer of 2021 and immediately started all 51 games he played in, setting a career-high. Last year, his usage dropped but he still saw the court for 20 minutes a night. This season, his minutes have fallen to 16 per contest, despite shooting 48 percent from deep.
With a decreased role and the untold frustration mounting as the Spurs sit at the bottom of the Western Conference, McDermott is enjoying sitting back and taking it all in.
“I’ve enjoyed this year more than the other two years [in San Antonio],” McDermott said at shootaround on Thursday.
In his decreased role, he has found new ways to spend his time as a de-facto coach. His veteran presence is incredibly valuable, he is the only player on the roster over 30 and one of just six Spurs born in the 20th century.
Unfortunately, losing is not new to him. He has a career 287-304 record and has only made the playoffs four times. That being said, the 3-14 record is not bringing him, or anyone on the Spurs, down.
“The energy has been great,” he said. “I think that's on the coaching staff for letting us know this is going to be a development, it’s not going to happen overnight. Obviously, there are some tough days in the film room, but we need those. What we do really well, is when those film sessions are over, we move on to the next day and try and get a win…we’ve been in a lot of these games, we just haven’t been able to finish them.”
As an aging player on a roster looking to get younger, McDermott knows that his biggest contribution to the team might be as a trade chip, and he is already reflecting on his time with the Silver and Black, “It’s going to be fun to watch these guys whether I’m here or not.”
Regardless of his role moving forward, the former Bluejay has a lot to look forward to, his alma mater is retiring his jersey on December 3rd.
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