JULY 6, 8:15pm: The Pacers and Kings have officially completed the trade sending Duarte to Sacramento. The Kings put out a press release confirming the move.
JULY 6, 2:43pm: The Pacers and Kings are in agreement on their Duarte trade, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who reports that the deal is expected to be finalized today.
Indiana will receive Dallas’ 2028 second-round pick and Sacramento’s own 2030 second-rounder, reports Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter link).
JUNE 30, 9:41am: The Kings and Pacers are nearing an agreement on a trade that will send wing Chris Duarte to Sacramento, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). According to Charania, Indiana would receive draft compensation in the deal.
Duarte, 26, was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Oregon. He had a promising rookie season in 2021/22, averaging 13.1 PPG with a .369 3PT% in 55 games (28.0 MPG), but took a step back in his second year in the NBA.
The 6’6″ swingman battled injuries that limited him to 46 games in 2022/23 and his numbers dipped to 7.9 PPG with a .316 3PT%. The emergence of rookie Bennedict Mathurin and the addition of another former lottery pick, Aaron Nesmith, resulted in Duarte playing a diminished role (19.5 MPG) even when he was available.
The Kings appear willing to bet that Duarte can recapture his rookie former and will take on his $4.1MM guaranteed salary for 2023/24. They’ll have to make a decision by October 31 on his $5.9MM option for the ’24/25 season. If that option is picked up, Duarte would become extension-eligible during the 2024 offseason.
The Pacers also reportedly discussed Duarte in their trade talks with the Hawks about De’Andre Hunter.
Good move for the Kings. Need another score of the Bench. Hopefully Davion will make a jump next season too.
Either Davion or Duarte can make a jump but there is not enough playing time for both to.
awesome trade, the bulls shouldve done this, he has lota of potential
Agreed, it would have been a great move for the Bulls, but they don’t have much draft compensation to provide
Neither did the Kings really
Good with this from Pacers side as well. Given the rumblings of who they are after in FA, Duarte won’t get a lot of run. If Hield stays Mathrin and Nebhard are first two guards off the bench.
Good to see the Pacers making moves. I think a big trade is going to happen. Please don’t sign Strus. Go Pacers!!!
Good move for both. Thought the Bulls,Sours and Knicks would have been in on it
The kings need a defensive shot blocking PF. Bad trade
Love this
Good deal for both teams
Indiana has a lot of similar options on the wing and at guard, with multiple shooters.
I really, really like this for Sacramento, and think he fills a spot that was what I thought was their main remaining need last year
I would have thought I diana could get a bigger asset or more for him, but he was injured a lot last year. In his draft, I saw him as an older similar version of Herro skillset wise
A 2030 second rounder jeez man it’s outta control
Duarte played will with Sabonis when both were Pacers.
Hopefully that chemistry can continue in Sacramento.
Should of signed Bol Bol
Hate to see him go,but do hope he’s given a better opportunity now.
Depth is a good thing. Solid pickup for Kings. You can’t judge Duarte by last yr.
F for Indiana. F for the Kings
Celtics aren’t in the Central