With the thirteenth pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, the Indiana Pacers selected Chris Duarte. This is the first time they’ve drafted inside the lottery since they selected Myles Turner with the 11th pick in the 2015 Draft.
Let’s get to know the newest Indiana Pacer.
Chris Duarte’s background
Chris Duarte was the first senior to be selected in the 2021 NBA draft, followed by Corey Kispert who was selected by the Washing Wizards with the 15th pick and worked out with the Pacers.
The Pacers get a solid shooter that can defend and can create his own shot behind the arc to help space the floor.
The 24-year-old senior from Oregon spent his first two college years playing at the JUCO level at Northwest Florida State. He would also win the 2019 NJCAA Player of the Year Award averaging 19 points per game and leading his team to the NJCAA elite eight.
Fun fact: Duarte is just eight months younger than Devin Booker, who has played in the NBA for seven seasons.
He proved to be a solid scoring option that can shoot off the catch as well as off the dribble through stepbacks or off the screen like Doug Mcdermott was used this season.
He’s a shooter in every sense and will bring that value to a Pacers team that relied heavily on McDermott and Justin Holiday for that shooting relief off the bench and at times in the starting unit due to injuries.
With him being 24 years old, he will need to bring that effort on the defensive end to add to his playability throughout this upcoming season.
Rick Carlisle in his post-draft press conference spoke highly of Duarte, saying he thinks Duarte can “crack the rotation right off the bat… he was the best available player in our eyes”. The organization thinks his athleticism is underrated and is thrilled to have him despite his age.
Chris Duarte statistics
Duarte would average 53.2% from the field on 11.5 attempts in his senior season, which is really exciting. Duarte would do this along with shooting 42.4% from three averaging 5.5 attempts.
There’s no question that he has developed into an excellent shooter that would be exciting to add alongside Doug McDermott if he is to be re-signed by the Pacers.
He has a good defensive frame and has great defensive effort along with active hands – averaging 2.0 steals per game in his first college season and averaged 1.7 for his career.
His shooting capability helped him provide 17.1 points per game in Oregon. Before that, in his sophomore season at NFSC, he averaged 19 points per game shooting 54% from the field and 40% from three.
On top of his shooting percentages, Duarte throughout his career at Oregon averaged an 80% free throw percentage, which is typically a good indicator of a player’s shot and its consistency.
Pacers General Manager Chad Buchanan says, “he’s got a beautiful NBA shot that we think will translate from day one”.
He says, “We’re not expecting him to come in right away and become a contributor” but talks about how he is NBA ready and felt that he was the best available option based on the team’s workout with Duarte and his style of play with the current roster.
The team wanted to take a pick that they knew was a sure thing and take a swing with their other pick, which ended up being Isaiah Jackson with pick No. 22 that the Pacers acquired from the Lakers, who traded their pick to Washington in the Westbrook trade that took place during the draft.
The Pacers traded Aaron Holiday to acquire No. 22.
We will likely see Chris Duarte’s first Pacers action in the NBA Summer League that starts on Aug. 8th where the Indiana Pacers will take on Aaron Holiday and the Washington Wizards at 8:00 PM EST.