There haven't been many bright spots for the 2-6 Indiana Pacers. They're heavily underperforming once again. It looks like it's going to be another long year in Indiana. The only thing the Pacers did this offseason was bringing in a new coach and it's obvious because their teams' play hasn't gotten much better.
Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis have both been very good so far for the Pacers. Unfortunately for Indiana, this hasn't equated to anything in the win column. Chris Duarte has been outstanding for Indiana and has given them much more production than they could have ever thought they were going to get from him. He's looking like the Rookie of the Year right now and you figured if Indiana could get this much production out of him, they would be a team who would finish with a top 3 seed in the Eastern Conference. From the look of things, that is not the case.
Indiana has only had one big surprise to start the season and that's the rookie Chris Duarte.
When the Pacers drafted Duarte they knew they were getting a scorer but they didn't expect him to do what he's doing right now. Duarte was drafted with the 13th pick of the first round in the 2021 NBA draft.
The sharpshooting former Oregon Ducks stand out has to be considered the NBA Rookie of the Year through the first two weeks of the season. Although the season is still young, what Duarte has been able to do has been nothing short of impressive. The rookie guard has averaged 17.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. He's doing all this while shooting 42.3% from the 3-point line.
He's currently playing much better in the NBA than he did in college. In college Duarte averaged 14.9 points per game and only shot 38% from the three-point line.
It is tough to imagine what Duarte is doing right now but if he keeps it up he's undoubtedly going to win the Rookie of the Year unless someone else starts playing comparable to him.
It's even tougher to imagine that a team with Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, Damontis Sabonis, Caris LeVert, and a Rookie of the Year favorite is playing this poorly.
Chris Duarte’s play may force the front office to make a tough decision on its existing core. TJ Warren is entering the final year of his contract. They might look to trade Warren as Duarte can do what he does while staying healthy.
It's been an unfortunate start for Indiana. Luckily for them, the season is just getting started and they have a lot of time to turn it around. A team with this much talent has to eventually figure it out. As we've seen with Indiana in the past, it doesn't always work like that. From the looks of things, they hit a pot of gold drafting Chris Duarte and Indiana's front office has to be ecstatic about the rookie.
The Pacers will host the New York Knicks on Wednesday. They will look to build off their win versus the San Antonio Spurs.
Follow Us
Subscribe