Indiana Pacers: 4 draft targets that bring shooting to the roster
By Luke Parrish
Chris Duarte – Guard (Oregon)
A tremendous rise in his sophomore season propelled Chris Duarte into first-round consideration in this draft class. Duarte exploded onto the season this season, especially during the NCAA tournament. He finished the year with an absurd 42.4 percent clip from beyond the arc and 63.1 shooting percentage from inside the line. He also knocked down 81 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe.
Duarte racked up 17.1 points per game as a sophomore, up from 12.9 points as a freshman starter in 2019-20. His play during March Madness was one of the highlights of the entire tournament as he averaged 22 points and shot 53 percent from the field in Oregon’s two contests. There was only one game all season in which Duarte did not knock down a three-point attempt.
His touch around the rim and ability to knock down shots in the face of defenders is hard to dislike. Guys who can connect on shots despite a good closeout are incredibly valuable, especially for a team like Indiana that has been inconsistent from downtown this season.
Duarte would be a fun fit off-ball next to Caris LeVert moving forward. The potential of those two on the offensive end of the floor would be hard to pass up, although there are clear concerns with Indiana’s defense at the moment.