Chris Duarte to Kings

#4
I missed “nearing” so perhaps I should’ve added a question mark.

I’ve liked Duarte though. Got buried in Indiana. Was coming back from injury when all these other guards were establishing themselves.
 

SLAB

Hall of Famer
#7
Probably not the potential upside of TD on any given night but more consistent and steady if everything goes right. I like it. Remember he had some hype his rookie year.
 
#11
From pacer digest:

“What luck for Duarte. Californian nursing homes are rated 22nd, a huge leap from 41st Indiana.”

Nothing but “glad he’s gone” from pacers fans.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
#12
Another guy Monte was supposedly interested in at one point. Wonder what the compensation will be. I like it assuming it's for second rounders, he only makes 4 million so it's not some massive cap clear. Still on his rookie deal despite being older than most of our core.
 
#17
Ookay!!!! We probably just got him for very cheap.

First of all I like this so much better than Thybulle.

Duarte's shooting %s (except for a squeaky clean 85% from the stripe) tanked heavily in a major sophomore slump type of season, having such unselfish stars like De'Aaron and Domas allow us to take low risk gambles like this n see if we cant get him in positions to succeed on offense, because elsewhere he's certainly built to contribute.

It would seem we'll resign Lyles and Queta, our depth chart is starting to fill up quickly.. Obviously we wait on word from Vezenkov and if he's not coming we go after another forward, n thats probably it, so I guess if thats not the case and we're gonna use the remaining wiggle room to swing for a big name, i'd think it'd be maybe a C or a PF rather than a combo forward, though I could be wrong.
 
#18
Kings are definitely going to be playing a lot of small ball off the bench next season.

i think Trey is back as small ball 5 and maybe Neemie will take that Len and Holmes role of emergency actual center.

From pacer digest:

“What luck for Duarte. Californian nursing homes are rated 22nd, a huge leap from 41st Indiana.”

Nothing but “glad he’s gone” from pacers fans.
Well, they considered Domas to be basically nothing on his way out as well…so maybe that’s just how they are.
 
#19
The fact that Duarte is super old and still on a rookie deal is now actually kind of in the Kings favor, we're not the ones who used a lottery pick on him remember, and 4 mil is very reasonable this season, if he outplays the deal a 6 mil team option is also quite reasonable, n then we'd have control of him in the summer of 2025 if we so choose.

This is a player that Doug Christie will be working with quite a bit I'd hope.
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#20
Sabonis/Lyles/Queta
Barnes/Vezenkov/??
Murray/Edwards/Duarte
Huerter/Monk/Ellis/Jones
Fox/Mitchell

Is currently how I see the depth chart, though several guys aren't locks for the roster. Sasha might not come over, Queta and Ellis may not be signed, Jones could be on a two way (Slawson definitely will be IMO) but I think this is close to how things will shake out.

Which means there's essentially one open roster spot for either a third big (PF or C) or a third PG unless we want to give Monk that role when needed.
 

dude12

Hall of Famer
#21
Cool. Does make we wonder if a trade is brewing with a guard or other.
Also, is it possible for us to trade the rights to Veznekoff? What if it’s him and say a Davion who is going out?

And Duarte and the age of our draft picks shows that the Kings do NOT have time to break in young players and be ok with their mistakes that can cost us games. Organization knows that they need to take advantage of the window they have/are creating with guys who are ready.
 
#22
People can’t possibly be blaming Sabonis’ absence for Duarte’s struggles lol.

Reading the Pacers’ forum, seems like injuries and a bad shooting slump were the reasons for his poor 2nd year. There’s some frustration from Pacers fans because they drafted him as a 24-year-old at 13th overall.

He’s currently 26 and more of a reclamation project for us. I don’t have high expectations for him, but I hope he can get back to the level of play we saw in his rookie year. He probably doesn’t get more than 15mpg here assuming he makes the rotation.

This probably means no minutes for Colby unless he steals some of Davion’s minutes at PG.
 
#24
Sabonis/Lyles/Queta
Barnes/Vezenkov/??
Murray/Edwards/Duarte
Huerter/Monk/Ellis/Jones
Fox/Mitchell

Is currently how I see the depth chart, though several guys aren't locks for the roster. Sasha might not come over, Queta and Ellis may not be signed, Jones could be on a two way (Slawson definitely will be IMO) but I think this is close to how things will shake out.

Which means there's essentially one open roster spot for either a third big (PF or C) or a third PG unless we want to give Monk that role when needed.
Well I dont think the SF spot is as barren as your depth chart looks because we have lots of players who can flex there, if Vezenkov is cooking at PF we can flex more of Barnes minutes to SF and then the minutes dry up quickly for the 3rd string SF's, we did see some Keegan at SG last season too, he can be flexed down more than most fans realize I think.. there's even the bizarre but true fact that Davion can guard some SF's.

Sabonis/Lyles/Queta
Barnes/Vezenkov/Murray/Edwards/Lyles
Murray/Barnes/Huerter/Jones/Duarte/Edwards
Huerter/Monk/Duarte/Jones/Ellis
Fox/Mitchell/Monk/Jones

But rather than a depth chart, what I see is we have a healthy competition brewing for shots and minutes, which is good going into camp.

Duarte and Colby Jones and Kessler Edwards... someones gonna get the lions share of those minutes... thats gonna be a battle, but also there's gonna be moments where each of their talents are best suited to help us, so its nice to have them all, we have control of these 3 guys too.. These players should be upgrades (I know Edwards was here but he should be better with a full offseason n some experience) n they should be complimentary and interchangable all 3 can defend multiple positions.
 
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#26
I know he was originally drafted as a shooter, but how’s his defense?
He’s a good defensive player. Probably the second most touted defensive guard in his draft class after Davion. He can also have big nights where he gets a lot of steals. In college and in his rookie season. Last season was a down year coming back from injury and Pacers having moved on with different guards by the time he came back.

I think this is a great pick up depending on the draft comp
 
#27
The fact that Duarte is super old and still on a rookie deal is now actually kind of in the Kings favor, we're not the ones who used a lottery pick on him remember, and 4 mil is very reasonable this season, if he outplays the deal a 6 mil team option is also quite reasonable, n then we'd have control of him in the summer of 2025 if we so choose.

This is a player that Doug Christie will be working with quite a bit I'd hope.
I wish I was a super old 26 year old...
 

funkykingston

Super Moderator
Staff member
#29
Well I dont think the SF spot is as barren as your depth chart looks because we have lots of players who can flex there, if Vezenkov is cooking at PF we can flex more of Barnes minutes to SF and then the minutes dry up quickly for the 3rd string SF's, we did see some Keegan at SG last season too, he can be flexed down more than most fans realize I think.. there's even the bizarre but true fact that Davion can guard some SF's.

Sabonis/Lyles/Queta
Barnes/Vezenkov/Murray/Edwards/Lyles
Murray/Barnes/Huerter/Jones/Duarte/Edwards
Huerter/Monk/Duarte/Jones/Ellis
Fox/Mitchell/Monk/Jones

But rather than a depth chart, what I see is we have a healthy competition brewing for shots and minutes and pt, which is good going into camp.

Duarte and Colby Jones and Kessler Edwards... someones gonna get the lions share of those minutes... thats gonna be a battle, but also there's gonna be moments where each of their talents are best suited to help us, so its nice to have them all, we have control of these 3 guys too.. These players should be upgrades (I know Edwards was here but he should be better with a full offseason n some experience) n they should be complimentary Jones and all 3 can defend multiple positions.
Yeah, I wasn't really looking at rotations as much as I was just counting roster spots.

To my way of thinking Sabonis and Queta are strictly centers and Fox & Mitchell are strictly PGs. Sasha is pretty much only a stretch 4 from what I've seen. Everybody else can flex a bit

Monk is a 1/2, Ellis is primarily a SG but played a bit of PG in the GLeague and can flex to the 3 in small lineups. Murray and Barnes are 4/3s, Lyles is a 4/5. Edwards can guard 2-4 depending on matchups, Colby Jones is a 2/3 who can probably play PG in a pinch and Duarte is also a 2/3.

And honestly I wouldn't mind seeing Huerter flexing to the SF spot a bit more to play along with Monk.

I'm just hoping we see Lyles as a small ball center with Vezenkov as a stretch 4 as part of the reserve unit next year. Potentially a lot of flexibility with this roster.