Doug McDermott chats trade to Indiana Pacers, Creighton basketball, Tyrese Haliburton, and more with Ryen Russillo

The Pacers acquired McDermott in February

Apr 1, 2024; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Doug McDermott (20) shoots the ball while Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas (24) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports / Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

On a late March episode of Ryen Russillo's podcast, he was joined by Indiana Pacers wing Doug McDermott for a half hour conversation.

The two touched on several topics, including the Pacers, McDermott's career, the many established coaches he has played for, and more. They started with a discussion about Creighton — McDermott's alma mater. The NBA forward's dad is still the coach at the Big East school.

Indiana's wing watches almost every game the Bluejays play and talks to his dad about the team. Those messages are reciprocated about the NBA. Doug McDermott added that it was tougher to play for Tom Thibodeau than his own dad, and the two talked about Thibodeau for a while.

They continued chatting about coaches, and that steered the conversation to the Pacers. McDermott said that Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle, as well as San Antonio Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich, are great at holding players accountable because of their championship experience.

"They're going to treat Tyrese [Haliburton] or Pascal [Siakam] or Wemby (Victor Wembanyama) the same way they're going to treat me or T.J. McConnell." McDermott said. He finds that important in a locker room.

McDermott also shared that Carlisle was important early in his career when they overlapped with the Dallas Mavericks. "Even if I have zero points and I feel like I affected the game by slipping out of a ball screen for Tyrese [Haliburton] or T.J. [McConnell], I feel like I did my job," the veteran wing said of the evolution of his career.

McDermott also told a great story about Popovich and an exit interview he had with the Sours a few years ago.

"He just comes up to me in the weight room and says, 'I don't need to talk to you'. I said, 'Alright, perfect'," McDermott began. "He said 'You might be one of the worst defenders I've ever coached, but you can't really shoot that thing... I'll see you next September'."

Their conversation closed with a chat about McDermott's trade to the Pacers and other trade deadline options he had. "I was super excited to be back," the Pacers wing said before talking about his star teammate Haliburton.

"It's amazing. The thing about Tyrese is... he's fine making the hockey assist, the pass to a pass," he said. "He truly just wants to win. He's a very smart guy."

The whole conversation can be found here. The Pacers acquired McDermott via a trade with the Spurs in February. He averaged 4.2 points per game for the blue and gold in 18 regular season appearances.

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