Indiana Pacers: Terry Taylor and Duane Washington Jr. sign new contracts

It was announced early Tuesday morning that two-way players Terry Taylor and Duane Washington Jr. will sign multi-year contracts with the Indiana Pacers.

The news comes with just two games remaining for the Indiana Pacers. These are deals that have a positive impact on the team and fit with their future plans of reshaping this roster.

Just over two weeks ago, I wrote about why keeping these young players should be a priority for this franchise and now it is official. The team also announced the signing of Gabe York and Nate Hinton to two-way deals to finish the season from the Mad Ants.

NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski reported it first, “The Indiana Pacers are converting two-way guards Duane Washington and Terry Taylor to standard, multi-year NBA contracts”.

Bobby Marks breaks down their contract details noting that they are both three-year deals, but not structured similarly.

Taylor: 21/22- $600K, 22/23- $1.6M ($625K guaranteed and a 7/10 GTY date), 23/24- $1.8 (non GTY).

Washington: 21/22- $950K, 22/23- $1.6M (no GTY and a 7/6 GTY date), 23/24- $1.8M (non GTY).

The additions of both these players to the roster meant that one player had to be waived in order for both of their two-way contracts to be converted.

So, yesterday it was also reported that the Pacers would be waiving Keifer Sykes, who had signed with the Pacers for the rest of the season. Sykes filled the point role well and answered the call when he was needed. His effort was never in question.

However, this move makes the most sense with this team build. T.J. McConnell has returned after missing 55 games and Lance Stephenson has been one of the team’s better passers this year. Sykes played in 32 games for the Pacers and started 11 times.

The Pacers now get two very promising young players locked in and they did it the best way possible, the draft and their G-League affiliate the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.

Fan favorites like Edmond Sumner and Oshae Brissett were the same way, and if Sumner never got hurt, I would imagine he would still be on the roster with Oshae.

This is a great move as the Pacers are looking at future development and how they want to structure this new team around young players like Tyrese Haliburton and Chris Duarte.

Taylor has averaged 9.6 points per game, 5.2 rebounds, and shot 62% from the field on over 6 attempts. His rebounding has been a huge factor in his game this season and averages more offensive rebounds than defensive. He is also just 6’5”.

Duane Washington Jr. has sneakily climbed into the top of his rookie class in three-point percentage. In fact, Chris Duarte and Duane Washington Jr. are in the top 3 in three-point percentage (min 4 attempts) among rookies.

• 1. Quentin Grimes – 38.1%
• 2. Duarte – 36.9%
• 3. Washington – 36.6%

This season, he averages 9.6 points per game while shooting 36.6% from deep and 39.4% from the field. He has a great catch and shoot skill set and can also score in transition, but those flashes haven’t been shown all the time.

Washington Jr. went undrafted as did Taylor, so it is great to see their hard work pay off in a big way. There will still be many questions about this roster as we head into the offseason, but this is a good first step in signing good young players who certainly deserved this type of deal.