The best player in college basketball this season won’t be a top five pick in the NBA draft.
Forward Doug McDermott is a scoring machine who is currently in fifth place in NCAA history with over 3000 career points.
The Creighton star led his team to a three seed and the third round of March Madness.
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PROS:
McDermott can flat out score the ball. He can shoot it from range, post you up or drive on you off the dribble.
When he isn’t shooting from distance, he uses his 6 foot 8, 225 frame to score in the paint where he is very crafty and has a variety of moves.
When shooting from the perimeter, McDermott doesn’t only need to come off a screen. He can shoot over defenders off the dribble, and while not ultra quick, is a threat to drive.
Although he is a great scorer, he also is a fantastic rebounder on both ends. He uses his body well and understands how to crash the glass.
Another plus has to be his basketball IQ and how he truly understands the game. For being such a prolific scorer, he doesn’t force the issue and take bad shots, but really lets the game come to him. He is a matchup problem for almost any team.
CONS:
For all the positives about his offensive game, there are negatives about his defense.
He struggles to defend on the perimeter and in the paint. He isn’t quick enough to guard a 3 and not strong enough to guard a 4.
McDermott will never wow anyone with his athletic ability, and this may be a huge factor for him at the next level.
His lack of quickness may make him only a spot up shooter and not leave him with a whole lot of playing time.
If McDermott is doing to play on the outside he also needs to work on his ballhandling and individual one-on-one moves. He doesn’t have a ton of go to moves from the outside and will need to develop some.
OVERALL OUTLOOK:
For him to be a good fit on the Lakers, it would need to be in the 8-12 range. He would be a decent counter to the current athleticism they have at the 3, but is sort of in the same mold as Ryan Kelly.
He is a tough player and does have a fit and role in the league, but with what the Lakers have right now, it wouldn’t make much sense to even take him at all due to the team having greater needs.
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