Kings agree to reported one-year contract with veteran sharpshooter

Kings agree to reported one-year contract with veteran sharpshooter originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Kings added some much-needed shooting depth ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Free-agent forward Doug McDermott agreed to a one-year contract with Sacramento on Wednesday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported, citing sources.

The Kings later confirmed the move but didn’t release terms.

McDermott, 32, has shot 47 percent from the field and 41 percent from 3-point range over the course of his 10-year career.

He helps Sacramento check off two areas of concern entering the new season with his size and shooting ability — not to mention the third could be his veteran presence alone on a predominantly young team. At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, the former first-round draft pick should perfectly complement coach Mike Brown’s unique offense alongside the team’s new Big Three in De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis.

Drafted by the Denver Nuggets in 2014 and then traded to the Chicago Bulls on draft night, McDermott has played for five different teams over the last decade, and most recently was with the Indiana Pacers last season.

McDermott’s best statistical seasons came with the Pacers during his first stint with the team from 2020 to 2023, in which he averaged 11.8 points on 48.9 percent shooting from the field and 40.7 percent from deep, and added 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23 minutes per game.

After the Kings traded Jalen McDaniels, a career 32.2 percent 3-point shooter, on Monday, McDermott gives them a boost off the bench alongside resilient guard Malik Monk and fellow sharpshooter Kevin Huerter, who is working his way back from shoulder surgery.

Sacramento, still winless in the preseason (whatever that means), is dead last in 3-point shooting (25 percent) among all NBA teams through four exhibition contests. Sure, it’s the preseason. But the McDermott addition only can help in that department, as the Kings hope to get back to the elite offense they had just two seasons ago.

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