The Indiana Pacers, at the trade deadline, settled for a few minor moves after they had already pushed their chips in the form of their blockbuster Pascal Siakam acquisition. After all the trade speculation surrounding Buddy Hield, the Pacers dealt him away to the Philadelphia 76ers, creating a roster void for a sharpshooter off the bench. As a result, the Pacers traded for a familiar face in Doug McDermott, taking on his expiring deal to make sure that the team has more floor-spacing options heading into the season’s stretch run.
McDermott, however, has found his second go-around with the Pacers to come with a huge transition period. Indiana used to run plenty of set plays from 2018 to 2021 under Nate McMillan and Nate Bjorkgren’s coaching; but with Rick Carlisle, the 32-year old sniper is still getting accustomed to the freedom of movement the team’s motion offense entails.
“The first couple of games, I kind of felt a little lost with some of the play calls. But Rick’s all about concepts and just moving randomly out there,” McDermott said, via Tony East of Sports Illustrated.
Nonetheless, Doug McDermott, despite going through a bit of a transition phase, feels at ease with the Pacers. After all, there are still two familiar faces on the team in Myles Turner and TJ McConnell, helping him acclimate to the team even though he had been away for two and a half seasons.
“I was super excited obviously, coming back to a place I’m familiar with. Obviously, a lot has changed around here,” McDermott added. “But overall, it kind of feels like home here for me. […] I feel like that really helps my game, that’s kind of what I do out there anyway. I feel like the more time I have, the more comfortable I’m going to be.”
The Pacers don’t need Doug McDermott to be a huge star; he has averaged just 12.7 minutes in his first three games back since his return at the trade deadline. But for a team fighting for an outright playoff spot, every bit of contribution can help. And for a Pacers team that’s putting up historic offensive numbers, a 41.1 percent career shooter from downtown could end up playing a vital role as the team heads into the stretch run.
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