The Hink Tank: Doug McDermott, Final Chapter

I started this blog series with the intention of educating people about who the Sixers could potentially take with the #10 pick had all of my top 8 players been taken, with that being said, I hope all of my writing is for naught tonight. I hope one of the top 8 like Aaron Gordon, Julius Randle, Noah Vonleh or whoever fall to 10, that would be just swell. But as all must do in times like these, I must prepare for the worst while praying for the best and that's why I have to consider the possibility that if Nik Stauskas gets taken 9th and the Sixers really want a shooter/scorer, Doug McDermott may be their selection…

"3" ain't just a number on a jersey no mo'

DOUGIE MCBUCKETS. Everybody's favorite white boy stealing the college basketball scene the likes of which we haven't seen since Jimmer Fredette. One thing the two players have in common, they can shoot the lights out, at least in the college game. As we all should know by now, Fredette didn't exactly pan out in the NBA as his one real skill was shooting the ball into a hoop from a very long ways away, but the athletic standard increase from the NCAA to the NBA proved too much for the Mormon hero. McDermott has a little more staying power than Jimmer, though. McDermott's offensive skills set is much more polished. Here comes another Dirk Nowitzki comparison but McDermott's ability to shoot from long range combined with his post and fadeaway game, makes him similar to Dirk in many ways. Only problem for McDermott is that Dirk can get away with that stuff because he's 7 feet tall, McDermott is only 6'8". That translates into the man being a really slow small forward, or a very much undersized power forward in the NBA, not exactly ideal for any defensive situation. The true question for McDermott is how well he can make his offensive game work against the elite defenders in the NBA.

As previously mentioned, McDermott's biggest weakness is his inability to play defense well. His feet move too slow for him to guard NBA small forwards, he isn't long enough to contend with people playing similar position(s), he doesn't have the strength to contend with the typical NBA power forward, and his lack of a true position in the NBA may ultimately be his downfall. He's also not as much of a ball handler and distributor as one like Dario Saric projects to be. To me, McDermotts pans out to be a bench shooter and that's not exactly what I think the Sixers are looking for with the 10th pick. Another thing working against McDermott is his age. At 22 years old already, he is as old as they come in the NBA draft and that allows him even less time to develop than a project player who's only 18 or 19 would have. This does give McDermott the element of experience, but will that experience even matter when most players in the NBA have much more than he does anyway?

Still, someone will take a chance on the senior from Creighton. May God bless their soul. McDermott truly is a guy whose draft stock is greatly helped by the fact that he's the John Wooden award winner and has a name carrying a lot of weight. Unfortunately for him, if his skills don't translate over to the NBA like he hopes they will, all that name weight will disappear and he may just float away (literally) across the Atlantic to a Euro team. If there is one saving grace for McBuckets, it's that his ability to shoot (hopefully) isn't going to just go away. Teams will always need shooters and as long as he remains crafty enough to find a way to get his shot off, you can bet there's a good chance it's going to go in.

South Street Draft Rating: 3/10

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OH! And by the way, the NBA Draft is TONIGHT. Coverage starts at 7 pm on ESPN, expect the actual draft to begin at like 8-ish. Remember tonight is not about what could have been, but what will be. Trust Hinkie and the system and have fun. Enjoy tonight. There is bound to be times when you're confused as to how the Sixers got Jeremy Lin and a 1st round pick for absolutely nothing but don't be alarmed, all questions will be answered in time.

Previous Editions:

Nik Stauskas

Dario Saric

Zach LaVine

Gary Harris