Which current Indiana Pacers will be impacted the most by Chris Duarte?
Taken with the 13th overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Chris Duarte will be expected to make an immediate impact on the Indiana Pacers. His arrival sparks a new flame in the Circle City as the newest prize for Rick Carlisle as he takes over the team. In order to make room for Duarte, other players will be forced to take a lesser role.
The 2020-21 Indiana Pacers were not good. Their struggles a season ago were the leading cause in landing Duarte in Indiana this summer, a player that many teams coveted in the first round according to several reports. The Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers were both very interested in the Oregon product and have even pitched trade offers to the Pacers since the draft.
Duarte was a proven star in his final season at Oregon, earning All-Pac 12 nods as the Player of the Year and a spot on the All-Defense team. Given Indiana’s struggles on defense and with a lack of a shooting threat on the perimeter aside from Doug McDermott, it seems as if Duarte has a spot in the rotation from the jump.
Golden State, league sources tell @IndyStarSports , is trying to get the #Pacers to part with Duarte. Offering Moody + other assets. They're not budging right now. Duarte was the pick they wanted, too, apparently. Top of their board
— J. Michael (@ThisIsJMichael) July 30, 2021
As the team’s first lottery pick in six years, Duarte will need to step up and play meaningful minutes right away. Which players will have to sacrifice their playing time to make room for the rookie?
Jeremy Lamb may be done with the Indiana Pacers
Before the NBA Draft even arrived, the feeling has been that Jeremy Lamb had played his final minutes as an Indiana Pacer. His battle with injuries and poor play last season left the Pacers with a gaping hole in the bench unit that they believed he would carry with his ability to score from all three levels.
Aaron Holiday was already traded on draft night, cleaning up another question mark at the backup guard position. Still, the future of Jeremy Lamb is very much in doubt as the Pacers look to find help elsewhere. Lamb played in just 36 games last season and 46 the season before, failing to stay healthy for any long stretches.
The rise of Edmond Sumner and Oshae Brissett, two young guys who took advantage of injuries, has made the cost of Lamb inexcusable for the Pacers. Rather than continuing to pay Lamb to sit behind impactful players, Indiana needs to find a way to get value out of him.
The most likely scenario for Lamb, if I had to guess, would be to package him in a trade with one of the centers or T.J. Warren. With Myles Turner, Domantas Sabonis, and Warren all on cheap deals, adding Lamb’s salary would be a smart move to make salaries match if they acquire a player like Andrew Wiggings or Ben Simmons.
No matter how I try to slice it, I do not see Jeremy Lamb being a Pacer next season. If he is on the roster, I have a hard time seeing how he will find playing time with so many other guards earning a chance to play.
The Indiana Pacers should move on from Cassius Stanley
Another no-brainer here as Cassius Stanley was far from helpful in his rookie season. The 2020 second-round pick out of Duke was horrendous in his limited playing time. He shot just 30.2 percent from the field and an abysmal 23.1 percent from three-point range in his 3.9 minutes per outing.
Not seeing consistent minutes was obviously not going to do Stanley any favors but even in the G-League, things were difficult. Stanley spent a portion of the season in the G-League bubble with the Mad Ants as he tried to showcase his skill set.
In 12 games with Fort Wayne, Stanley averaged 12.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists. While those raw numbers seem fine, diving a little deeper highlights the continued struggles to hit shots for the young guard. He shot just 41.6 percent from the field and 26.7 percent from deep despite taking 12.4 attempts and 5.0 attempts from the perimeter.
He was not shy of shooting but he honestly should have been. Stanley never did enough to prove himself and as a borderline roster player next season to begin with, the selection of Duarte almost guarantees that Stanley will be nothing more than a G-League player and end-of-the-bench option.
Cassius Stanley is a long shot to make the active roster for the Indiana Pacers next season and that’s perfectly fine.
Does this change how the Indiana Pacers view Doug McDermott?
The biggest question in free agency is centered on the future of Doug McDermott. Coming off a career year, McDermott has earned himself a significant paycheck this summer with several contending teams presumably in the mix to make an offer. Indiana is already strapped for cash and cannot offer the same championship aspirations as other squads.
McDermott was very good for Indiana last year and will continue to be a reliable bench threat moving forward. His ability as a shooter and a cutter was on full display last season, making him a hot commodity in free agency this summer. While a reunion with Rick Carlisle would be great for all parties, I think his future resides elsewhere.
Simply put, the Pacers have a lot of players already fighting for playing time in the second unit. With T.J. McConnell likely coming back, the bench will have several proven players to rely on with or without McDermott. McConnell, Duarte, Justin Holiday, Oshae Brissett, Edmond Sumner, and Goga Bitadze are all deserving of minutes.
Letting McDermott walk and saving the money is definitely something I would prefer, rather than forcing the issue and making the rotation a mess for next season. The Pacers can make things work without Doug while also letting him chase a ring as a quality bench player on a contender.