Doug McDermott & TJ McConnell Are Both Re-Signed
Given where the Indiana Pacers are when it comes to the tax line, they will be hard-pressed to add much talent to the team in free agency. So, they must retain their free agents to make it work.
With the trade of Lamb or Holiday, if not both, the Pacers will have a little extra wiggle room under the tax line to re-sign their two biggest free agents and important players to their rotation in Doug McDermott and T.J. McConnell.
McDermott has been labeled as strictly a 3-point shooter, which isn’t inaccurate as he connects on 40.7 percent of his 3-point attempts. But, he has done well diversifying his offensive game in recent years.
He is now a threat to put the ball on the floor and get to the rack, as he averaged 13.6 points per game and made 53.2 percent of his shot attempts, both of which were career-highs. Whether it was off the bench or in the starting five, McDermott provided Indiana with a source of scoring and shooting they needed.
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As for McConnell, he is one of the steadiest backup point guards in the NBA. If a team comes along and offers him a starting job, Indiana could be in trouble. Despite only playing 26 minutes per game, McConnell was third in the NBA in steals per game with 1.7 and 16th overall in assists per game at 6.5.
