With the Sacramento Kings’ 2024-25 NBA season officially ended—thanks to the Dallas Mavericks—their attention now turns to the offseason.
Several players from this year’s roster are set to hit free agency, and in the coming days, we’ll evaluate the case for and against re-signing each of them.
One such player is Doug McDermott, who joined the team just before the season began on a veteran minimum deal. The question now is: did the veteran sharpshooter show enough during his lone season in Sacramento to earn a return in 2025-26?
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Should the Kings bring back Doug McDermott?
Doug McDermott joined the Kings just a week before the regular season tipped off, valued for his elite three-point shooting (a career 43.6% from deep) and veteran presence. In many ways, he seemed like a contingency plan in case the team moved on from Kevin Huerter—which ultimately happened in a major three-team deal involving De’Aaron Fox and Zach LaVine.
However, that plan never fully materialized on the court. While McDermott did exactly what he was brought in to do—shoot threes at an elite clip, hitting 43.6% of his 101 attempts—he struggled to carve out a steady role in the rotation. He appeared in just 42 of 82 games and averaged only 8.1 minutes per contest.
The root of the issue was his defense. McDermott ranked in the 21st percentile in Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus (via Dunks & Threes), marking the eleventh straight season he’s landed in the league’s bottom tier by that metric.
With Sacramento finishing 23rd in defensive efficiency—its 22nd straight year outside the top 10—the team simply couldn’t afford to give regular minutes to another defensive liability. As a result, McDermott remained on the fringes of the lineup.
As with Jae Crowder, it’s tough to quantify how much McDermott’s leadership and experience benefited the locker room. Those intangibles may be worth enough to justify another veteran minimum contract.
But based on his limited on-court impact, it’s difficult to make a compelling case for bringing him back. The Kings should be able to find a more consistent contributor for a similar cost this offseason.
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