If the Pacers had any sense, they would play Doug McDermott thirty minutes per game and make him the number one option. Not only because he might thrive as a number one option (he’s never been that in the NBA, but in college it worked out well for him), but because he’s a very “Indiana” basketball player. Certain attributes of his make him very relatable to the people of Indiana. People would be swarming to get into games if they knew that McDermott, the player on the team with the most relatable characteristics to the average fan, would be taking most of the shots and leading the team to wins.
I assume he would be leading the team to wins. Maybe he wouldn’t be. Maybe he would shoot 30% from the field and the whole offense would crash and burn and the Pacers would squander their playoff chances and it would be a big disaster. That’s a risk that the Pacers should be willing to take.
When Oladipo comes back, it will be his team again. There’s not much time left to squeeze some profit out of ticket-buyers by featuring McDermott in a leading role, because with Lamb, Turner, and Oladipo all back in the lineup, McDermott will be lucky to get twenty MPG per game. The time to strike is now. The time to make McDermott into a guy who takes twenty shots per game is now.