Doug McDermott has had a much better season than he had last year, but that doesn’t mean that he’s reached the level that people would like to see him playing at. He’s shooting 45% from the field, 40% from 3-point range, and above 85% from the line which are great numbers, but he’s still not averaging above 10 points per game.
To be fair to Doug, he hasn’t had the kinds of opportunities that McDermott fans hoped he would have once he arrived in Chicago. While this is true, Doug did have the chance to step up with Mike Dunleavy Jr. missing the entire first half of the season, but he just didn’t perform the way Hoiberg had wanted.
Last night against the Toronto Raptors, Doug McDermott came out of his shell and erupted. McDermott finished with 29 points while shooting 9/11 from the field and, more specifically, 4/5 from deep.
Currently the Bulls sit in the 8th spot in the East, just percentage points ahead of the Pistons. Doug McDermott will be a big part of this playoff push as we wind down the season. If McDermott can keep putting up games like this, they may see themselves in the playoffs. But, if he starts to struggle once again, the Bulls may be left out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2007-2008 season.
