The Indiana Pacers have signed free agent guard Tyreke Evans and free agent forward Doug McDermott to contracts.
A 6-6 guard, Evans was the fourth overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings, and was named NBA Rookie of the Year after the 2009-10 season. He spent last season with the Memphis Grizzlies and averaged 19.4 points, 5.1 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.1 steals in 52 games. Through nine NBA seasons with Sacramento, New Orleans and Memphis, Evans has recorded career averages of 16.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.1 assists per game.
McDermott, a 6-8 forward, was named Naismith Men’s College Player of the Year his senior season at Creighton University before he was selected 11th overall by the Chicago Bulls in the 2014 NBA Draft. He spent the 2017-18 season with the New York Knicks and Dallas Mavericks, and averaged 7.8 points and 2.5 rebounds while shooting a career-high 42.6 percent from three-point range over 81 games. Over his four NBA seasons, McDermott has averaged 7.9 points and 2.3 rebounds per game and shot 40.3 percent from three-point range over 264 career games for the Bulls, Thunder, Knicks and Mavericks.
“The upside for us with Doug and Tyreke for our team at this time is obvious: they both can score,” said President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard. “In Doug’s case, we were looking for elite shooting, but we were also impressed with how he moves without the ball and his spot-up shooting. With Tyreke, we thought we needed a secondary ball-handler to not only compliment Victor, but he can turn it downhill and make plays for others. We think both are very solid basketball players. They know the game, they know what they need to work on and based on our conversations with them, they will fit in well with what we established here last year: players who want to win, players who are good teammates, players who will do what it takes to get better, both individually and for the team.”
