After two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, former Duck Chris Duarte is reportedly close to being traded to Sacramento.
After two seasons with the Indiana Pacers, former Oregon Ducks guard Chris Duarte could be on the move to Sacramento.
According to The Athletic, the Pacers are looking to trade their former 2021 first-round draft pick to the Kings for draft compensation, which likely means he’ll be traded for a draft pick to be named later.
Duarte had a solid rookie year with the Pacers in the 2021-22 season where he averaged 13 points in the 55 games he appeared in. But in this past season, Duarte’s numbers fell off due to an ankle injury that never seemed to heal properly. He averaged just under eight points a game and shot 37 percent from the field.
If Duarte is able to heal up and return to form, he could be a nice addition to a young Kings team that is on the verge of being a contender. They finished third in the Western Conference and made the playoffs for the first time in nearly 17 years. However, the season ended with a loss to the Golden State Warriors in five games.
Sacramento’s off-season has been busy as they just signed Harrison Barnes to a $54 million contract.
The Indiana Pacers are nearing a trade sending guard Chris Duarte to the Sacramento Kings for draft compensation, sources tell @TheAthletic@Stadium.
The numbers say Duarte played his best basketball with Sabonis.
The Sacramento Kings are reportedly nearing a trade for Indiana Pacers wing Chris Duarte, according to Shams Charania.
Sacramento is expected to offer “draft compensation” in return for the 26-year-old former lottery pick, who made NBA All-Rookie Second-Team in 2022.
Duarte averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game as a rookie. But he took a step back as a sophomore, averaging just 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds with 1.4 assists and 0.5 steals per game.
Perhaps one reason for the decline in his on-court performance was the loss of Domantas Sabonis, who was traded to Sacramento in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton.
Sabonis reportedly took Duarte out to dinner before the Kings hosted the Pacers last season, per SI.com. The All-NBA big man has said that he has maintained a relationship with the former Oregon star (via Indy Star):
“We keep in touch a lot, so we’re pretty close.”
The two also had fantastic chemistry on the court during their time with the Pacers. Duarte made 26 field goals after handoffs during his rookie season, per Synergy. None came after the Pacers traded Sabonis. He made just eight in his second professional season.
Even though the trade was made midway through the 2021-22 season, via NBA.com, no one recorded more passes (369) or assists (43) to Duarte when he was a rookie than Sabonis.
TEAMMATE (min: 250 minutes)
AST/36
PASS/36
T.J. McConnell
1.84
21.0
Domantas Sabonis
1.82
15.6
Tyrese Haliburton
1.48
17.3
Buddy Hield
1.31
7.9
Andrew Nembhard
1.09
11.8
Malcolm Brogdon
1.07
16.5
Goga Bitadze
0.87
12.2
Bennedict Mathurin
0.55
5.4
Oshae Brissett
0.45
6.4
There was a noticeable decline in performance for Duarte after the trade during his rookie season.
Duarte averaged 24.0 points with 3.8 assists per 100 possessions when he shared the floor with Sabonis, per PBPStats, and 21.9 points with 3.5 assists per 100 without the big man.
The numbers without Sabonis were more aligned with his performance during his second professional season, in which he averaged 19.2 points and 3.4 assists per 100.
As a rookie, he had an above-average 3-point percentage with Sabonis on the floor (38.5 percent) but dropped below league average (34.4 percent) during his minutes without the big man (34.8 percent) in 2021-22.
Duarte shot 31.6 percent from beyond the arc as a sophomore in his first full season without Sabonis.
Overall, his effective field-goal percentage with Sabonis (53.0 percent) was about on par with the league average (53.2 percent) when Duarte was a rookie but was far below without him (47.8 percent) on the Pacers. That slump continued into his sophomore year (45.2 percent) as well.
But playing alongside Sabonis once again, Duarte can potentially have a bounce-back season in Sacramento.
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Mathurin produced 29 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in 40 minutes of work in the 149-136 loss. He went 11-of-21 from the field and made one 3-pointer in his 12th start as the Pacers dropped to 33-44.
Mathurin is averaging 16.6 points, four rebounds and 1.4 assists on 31.9% shooting from 3-point range in 73 games this season. He is second in scoring among all rookies and is one of four first-year players this season with multiple 30-point games (2).
His play this season certainly has the organization excited about his future. He represents a large part of the future in Indianapolis and should be a lock to make the All-Rookie first team this season.
There are a handful of Oregon Ducks contributing at the NBA level this season, although injuries are impacting many of the big names.
It was a disappointing season for the Oregon Ducks on the hardwood this season, but for hoops fans in Eugene at least there are a handful of alumni playing at the NBA level.
Dillon Brooks has been the Ducks player in the news most often this season, although usually for his antics on the court rather than his play on the court – which has been disappointing for the most part this year.
Elsewhere, Payton Pritchard is still with Boston despite requesting a trade before the deadline, Chris Duarte is still dealing with ankle injuries that have plagued him for two years, and Bol Bol’s tantalizing potential is marred by inconsistent play.
It all seems so familiar, which is why it’s no surprise that Chris Boucher is posting almost the exact same stat line from last year again this season.
There are some differences, namely Eugene Omoruyi’s team and the emergence of Troy Brown as a starter, but otherwise it’s a lot of familiarity in our latest update on Ducks in the NBA:
Tee Morant also recently got into it with Shannon Sharpe.
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Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant got into a bit of an altercation during a recent win over the Indiana Pacers.
It wasn’t entirely clear what caused the scuffle between Morant and members of the opposing team. The guard was initially seen jawing with Pacers wing Chris Duarte after a free throw from Indiana’s Isaiah Jackson. Members from both teams got involved before the two sides were eventually separated.
During his post-game interview, Morant was asked to provide more clarity. He said that Pacers rookie Andrew Nembhard actually started the incident:
“Andrew told my pops to shut up. Pretty much, I heard my pops like ask him if he said shut up. So I was trying to figure out who he was talking to. Obviously, I had seen it was him, so I approached him, seeing what he was on. Checked his temperature. He didn’t have a fever. Then Duarte came over, tried to push me … I told him stop pushing me. He said he was cooling. Then his teammates came over, then he started talking.”
Ja clearly wasn’t happy that Nembhard was disrespectful toward Tee. Meanwhile, Morant’s best friend Davonte Pack (who is also known as DTap) was escorted out of the arena for his role in escalating Sunday’s altercation.
NBA content from around the USA TODAY Sports network.
Speaking of the Grizzlies, Memphis big man Jaren Jackson Jr. found himself at the center of an incredibly dumb controversy this past weekend.
There was a Reddit post that claimed Memphis scorekeepers were cooking the books to make Jackson’s potential Defensive Player of the Year campaign more impressive. There are several reasons why that is not true:
“Let’s fully ignore all of his blocks and steals and defensive counting stats that can potentially be fudged by a scorekeeper.
The Athletic’s Seth Partnow has a fascinating metric that does not use blocks to calculate rim protection. Instead, he involves rim FG% allowed vs. contests, frequency of contests, and opponent rim attempt rate while a player is on the floor.
Jackson leads the league in rim protection points saved, and while he is 2.2 points per 100 possession better at home than on the road, his splits at home and on the road would both rank as the best in the league.”
The league uses auditors and tons of additional camera angles to verify all stats.
In the age of popularized sports gambling, there is simply no way anybody would get away with fudging the numbers. Jackson just records more blocks at home than he does on the road. It’s fairly simple stuff!
Kings (-115, -1.5) vs. Timberwolves (-105), O/U 237.5, 8:00 PM ET
Over the course of their last ten games, both the Kings and the Timberwolves are 7-3. Based on net ratings, Sacramento and Minnesota are two of the five best teams in the Western Conference this month since the new year began. Anthony Edwards has turned it up a notch of late, but the Kings remain as the No. 3 seed in the West.
Bol Bol has developed into a star for the Orlando Magic, representing the eight Oregon Ducks in the NBA quite well so far this year.
The Oregon Ducks have consistently churned out NBA talent during the Dana Altman era, and so far this season eight alumni have suited up at the game’s highest level.
The biggest storyline among Oregon alumni has been the emergence of center Bol Bol. After getting traded twice last season (and having one trade voided) Bol has found a home in Orlando.
Playing alongside superstar rookie Paolo Banchero, Bol has begun to show the tantalizing promise that made him such an intriguing prospect. He’s blocking shots, shooting threes, taking guys off the dribble, and making a strong impact on both ends of the floor so far this year.
Dillon Brooks, Chris Boucher, Chris Duarte, and Payton Pritchard are all settling into key roles similar to previous seasons – although an injury to Duarte has slowed his progress in year two.
Here is a look at how every Oregon alumni is performing through the first six weeks of NBA action:
The Oregon Ducks have multiple players in the NBA and WNBA represented in NBA 2K23, which launched on Friday. Here is how they are rated.
The ever popular NBA 2K video game series came out with the latest version, NBA 2K23, on Friday.
As with the Madden series on the NFL side, the release of a new video game makes the rounds on social media every single year as fans, media members, and even players themselves discuss their overall ratings and the ratings of each team.
For Oregon fans, it’s a great chance to see how former players are assessed as NBA talent, with about six weeks until the actual NBA season is set to begin.
This year’s game also features WNBA talent as well, giving fans a chance to play with Sabrina Ionescu, Satou Sabally, and Ruthy Hebard as well as Oregon’s many NBA players.
Here is a look at how each Oregon alumni in the NBA and WNBA is rated on NBA 2K launch day. These ratings get updated as the season goes on, so strong (or weak) performances will see the ratings updated accordingly.
The trio will compete for the Dominican National Team in 2023 FIBA World Cup play.
Boston Celtics veteran big man Al Horford will reportedly be suiting up for the Dominican national team for next year’s FIBA World Cup play according to Cancha Latina’s Daniel Merida. Per Merida, Horford will be joined by a pair of fellow NBAers: Indiana Pacers shooting guard Chris Duarte, and veteran Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns.
The trio will compete for the Dominican National Team in 2023 FIBA World Cup play in the fourth qualifying window play in matches against the Panamanian and Venezuelan national teams. They will do so with an eye toward making the final cut to participate in the field of increasingly competitive international play.
Play will reportedly begin at the Palacio de Los Deportes in Santo Domingo against Panama on Thursday, August 25th. It will then will head to Barquisimieto to compete at the Domo Bolivariano against Venezuela on the following Monday, August 29th.
The three players were unanimous selections to the first team, receiving votes on all 100 ballots.
Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham headlined the NBA All-Rookie first team announced on Wednesday.
The three players were unanimous selections to the first team, receiving votes on all 100 ballots from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. They were the three finalists for Rookie of the Year, which was awarded to Barnes last month.
Joining the trio are Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner and Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green. Wagner received 84 first-place votes while Green garnered 58 in the final tally.
The voting was conducted without consideration for the positions.
2021-22 NBA All-Rookie First Team
Player
First Team Votes
Second Team Votes
Total Points
Scottie Barnes
100
0
200
Cade Cunningham
100
0
200
Evan Mobley
100
0
200
Franz Wagner
84
15
183
Jalen Green
58
42
158
New Orleans Pelicans forward Herb Jones narrowly edged out Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey for the most points on the second team. They are joined by Denver Nuggets guard Bones Hyland, Chicago Bulls guard Ayo Dosunmu and Indiana Pacers guard Chris Duarte.
Duarte initially suffered the injury on Feb. 13 in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He was held out of playing in the Rising Stars game at All-Star Weekend and has appeared in only five games with the Pacers since the break.
The 13th pick would eventually aggravate the injury again and has not played since March 15, missing the past nine games. With the year winding down, the team will hold him out of the lineup to ensure he is healthy heading into the offseason.
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said on April 1 that Duarte may not play again.
His toe is doing better all of the time. Toes are difficult. They are in an area of the body where there is not a lot of circulation and big toe injuries linger. I would say it is unlikely we’ll see him the rest of the way but not impossible.
Duarte emerged as one of the top first-year players this year, averaging 13.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was the ninth player in team history to be selected for the Rising Stars game and the first since Domantas Sabonis in 2018.
The 24-year-old will likely be in contention to earn NBA All-Rookie honors this season. He ranks seventh in scoring and field goals among all first-year players and is fourth in 3-pointers.
