Doug McDermott had a tremendous four year career at Creighton and finished as one of the greatest college basketball players of all time so he came into the NBA with high expectations. As a rookie McDermott didn't get much of a chance to live up to those expectations but with Mike Dunleavy set to miss time McDermott could see a big minutes increase at least at the beginning of the season, according to Rotoworld.
Dunleavy underwent surgery on his lower back and is expected to miss 8-10 weeks which won't get him back on the court until November or December. Dunleavy is the starting small forward for the Bulls so with him out the Bulls will need somebody to take his place. McDermott may not step into the starting spot but he will likely see some minutes off the bench at the very least.
The most plausible option to take that starting spot may be Nikola Mirotic but he also might be an option to start at power forward as there have been reports that new head coach Fred Hoiberg doesn't want to start Joakim Noah and Pau Gasol together. Another potential option at small forward is Tony Snell who is entering his third NBA season.
McDermott had a very good summer league where he averaged 18.8 points on 49 percent shooting in five games. The 6 foot-8 forward has always scored at every level so given the opportunity he will likely be able to put up points at the NBA level. This is a guy who averaged more than 25 points per game as a senior at Creighton, scored more than 3,000 points in his college career and is fourth on the all-time scoring list.
As a rookie McDermott only played in 36 games and was given just 8.9 minutes per game. That sample size isn't nearly big enough to draw any conclusions on how he will do in the NBA but he should get the opportunity this year to show what he can do at this level. McDermott has the size and scoring ability to make an impact at the NBA level, now it is time for him to take advantage of the opprtunity he will likely be given.
