How Fred Hoiberg Can Help Doug McDermott Reach His Potential with Chicago Bulls

Of all the players on the Chicago Bulls, arguably none stands to benefit more from the recent change in head coach than Doug McDermott, who has a chance to thrive with Fred Hoiberg at the helm.

McDermott was officially drafted by the Denver Nuggets last season with the No. 11 pick. They then traded his rights to the Chicago Bulls for Gary Harris (No. 19) and Jusuf Nurkic (No. 16), the latter of whom had a better rookie season than McDermott.

McDermott played a whopping total of just 321 minutes last season. The 6’8”, 225-pound forward averaged 3.0 points per game and had a meager player efficiency rating of 6.1, per Basketball-Reference.com.

McDermott’s infrequent opportunities—and the short leash allotted by then-coach Tom Thibodeau when they came—didn’t provide him much chance to grow on the court. The most immediate benefit from the change at the top to is that McDermott will probably be getting time on the court—Hoiberg will actually play him

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

In his introductory press conference, per Sam Smith of Bulls.com, Hoiberg declared: "You have former All-Stars, you have current All-Stars. You have players that I think could eventually become All-Stars. ... I’m here to do everything I can to support them, work with them and hopefully bring this group to where we’re competing for a world championship."

That, however, is only a part of what “McBuckets” has to look forward to. The new coach's system is more conducive toward the particular skills that made McDermott the fifth all-time scorer in Division I basketball while he was at Creighton.

McDermott is quick to acknowledge that, telling K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune:

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I have a good sense of his style. I think I'll fit in great. He has a great offensive mind. His team shot a lot of 3s. They ran a lot of pick-and-rolls and I assume Derrick (Rose) will be in a lot more pick-and-rolls. I feel I can be a great spacer for the team and show my versatility a little more. I can see (Hoiberg) playing like the Warriors, going small and using shooters.

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When I discussed the then-potential Hoiberg switch with coaching expert Randall Sherman of BBallBreakdown.com for Today’s Fastbreak, the outlook was even brighter for the Bulls sophomore:

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Hoiberg being hired by the Bulls would be the best thing to happen to McDermott’s professional career. I recall saying once to a coaching colleague that if every player played like McDermott, college basketball would be infinitely more entertaining. His movement away from the ball and ability to read defenders is lovely to watch. I’m not an avid NBA watcher, so I really cannot comment on why he hasn’t played much for Chicago to this point. I do believe that Hoiberg would find many ways to utilize McDermott. He’s the type of versatile and highly skilled player Hoiberg loves.

In general, Hoiberg has a shooting wing (Naz Long) and more of a slashing wing (Bryce Dejean-Jones) on the floor together. He uses “Pistol” action and dribble handoffs for the slashers. He mainly spaces shooters opposite of high and wing ball screens. McDermott is adept at using pin downs and flare screens. He can read defenders and curl and catch-and-shoot off screens that don’t involve the ball. I see Hoiberg using this skill as a weapon.

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For the Bulls, the slasher will be Jimmy Butler, and the shooter will be McDermott. Hoiberg will run sets that force defenders into choosing between defending Butler driving to the rim or McDermott curling off a screen to get to the weak-side three.

Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images

McDermott’s biggest virtue is his sniping. A knee injury appeared to affect that in the early part of the season, but after returning from his surgery, he shot 46.7 percent from deep. His effective field-goal percentage on catch-and-shoots was 60.5 percent, per NBA.com.

There is a tendency, though, perhaps because of the Creighton connection with Kyle Korver, to pigeonhole McDermott into a shooter. He has more ability to put the ball on the floor than he’s given credit for.

Thibodeau, running with two bigs in the paint most of the time, didn’t leave much room for error there. McDermott is good enough to beat one guy off a dribble, but he's not the kind of guy who can weave through an entire team, a la Derrick Rose.

Even with his limited playing time, McDermott finished 24 shots at the rim. By comparison, Korver had 19 in 2,418 minutes. Hoiberg will use Nikola Mirotic more often as a stretch 4, providing McDermott more chances to drive to the rim.

Hoiberg likes to spread the court and have his 3 play point forward. While Derrick Rose will likely remain the primary ball-handler, McDermott will see more chances to be a decision-maker. He averaged 2.8 assists in 28.8 minutes during the summer league, demonstrating that he has some ability to be a facilitator.

There are admittedly valid concerns with his defense. But these players need to get on the court and make mistakes to learn from. Korver has gone from being a similar liability to a plus-defender over the course of his career. McDermott will never be an All-Defensive player, but he can develop to the point of being hidden between stout stoppers like Jimmy Butler and Taj Gibson.

McDermott will get minutes. He’ll get chances to prove his shooting, driving ability and passing. Perhaps most importantly, he’ll get a chance to fail without getting yanked off the court. Because of that, he should benefit more than any player on the Bulls’ roster.

 All stats for this article were obtained from Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.