NBA: Doug McDermott could be the economical scorer that the Cleveland Cavaliers or Chicago Bulls seek in Free Agency
Former Chicago Bulls scorer Doug McDermott was initially offered a 9.8 million dollar quallifying offer, a steal and a bargain, by his current team, the Dallas Mavericks to stay on Rick Carlisle’s team next season.
Then for some unknown reason, maybe a play for DeAndre Jordan, the Mavs elected to rescind their offer, making McDermott an unrestricted free agent.
We really don’t know if the Mavs have lost interest in the streaky scorer, but we do know that there are two Eastern Conference teams that should jump at the opportunity to land McDermott.
The first team is the Cleveland Cavaliers.
If they want LeBron James to stay on their team and even get rid of some overpaid guys on the team like Kevin Love or Kyle Korver, it would do them well to check out Doug McDermott and sign him up to be the howitzer alongside James who can score 30 points a night without batting an eyelash, and helping them make the season lighter on King James shoulders.
All James needs is a surefire scorer in the mold of Kyrie Irving and run a Cleveland offense alongside him and that other guy. Doug McDermott on the Cavaliers team is a no-brainer. And only for as much as the 9.8 million qualifying offer or better if their management were up to snuff.
The second team the should take a hard look at brining in McDermott is the Chicago Bulls.
Yeah. Yeah. The Bulls are grooming Lauri Markkanen and maybe even Chandler Hutchison to carry the scoring load for the team from the wing or power forward, and both can defend better than Doug. But what Bulls forget is that a surefire offense is the cornerstone of their Fred Hoiberg success.
Nikola Mirotic carried the Chicago Bulls last season to a 10-game winning streak on the strength of his long range game fitting neatly right next to Markkanen. No one else on the team can hoist the shots Mirotic can. Except for Doug McDermott, Niko’s former partner in the frontcourt.
We know the team may revert to a twin post offense similar to Tom Thibodeau to give lottery pick Wendell Carter Jr. a chance to grow into his role and be at least as consistent as workhorse Robin Lopez, but you’ll still need a long range bomber like Doug to keep the lanes light for Wendell to find his game.
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If the team wanted a real boost this year, let go of Zach LaVine and give his role to Chandler Hutchison, then use Doug McDermott as long range bomber in the role of Nikola Mirotic during the 10-game winning streak last year. LaVine is coming off a major knee injury and may not be worth the big money that he’s going to demand on the open market.
We do want to know how much of a winning streak, a hot scoring Doug McDermott can bring to Fred Hoiberg’s sweeter team next year. Don’t you want to see Doug torch the nets for either the Bulls or the Cavaliers, rather than stay stuck as second gunner behind the Mavericks’ starters?