Pacers Select Chris Duarte at #13

[8305]

I don't see how that's a win. At #13 in a deep draft, you try to get someone at the level of Sabonis with $3 million, not someone at the level of Doug with $3 million.

Who do you suggest the Pacers should have taken instead?

Moses Moody was the obvious pick if you wanted to go for an NBA-ready guy who projects as an elite-role player that could maybe become something more in the future.

Keon Johnson was a possibility if you wanted an explosive athlete with a great defensive presence and a very high motor that could develop into a two-way player. Granted, Keon Johnson is very raw offensively but his defense alone can earn him a rotational spot.

Jalen Johnson was another possibility if you wanted another great athlete with defensive and playmaking potential. There were some character concerns with him, though, (fair or not) so I understand why teams shied away and he fell.

Alperen Sengun was a player who was much more productive than Duarte was last year, despite the fact that he was playing against grown men in a professional league as an 18 year old. He won the MVP in that league, by the way. Meanwhile, Duarte only managed to post good numbers as a 24 year old playing against 19 and 20 year olds. When it comes to production, it is straight-out silly that Sengun was picked after Duarte. Even if Sengun wasn't 5 years younger, he should have gone higher due to production alone. Now, I didn't want us to pick Sengun due to positional reasons but if the argument is production then, yeah, he was much better than Duarte.

Usman Garuba was an option if you wanted a Forward/Center with a ton of defensive versatility and top-notch defensive instincts and awareness. His offense is a work in progress but he has the athletic profile to be a rim runner and PnR roll man, at the very least.

Tre Mann, Josh Christopher and Cameron Thomas were all options if you wanted a scoring guard.

Jaden Springer, Ayo Dosunmu, Miles McBride and Jared Butler were all options if you wanted a defensive guard.

Joe Wieskamp was an option if you wanted a pure shooter.

Trey Murphy III was another option if you wanted a 3&D guy.

JT Thor was another option if you wanted a very versatile defender with great length and athletic tools that can also shoot the 3.

Sharife Cooper was an option if you wanted a very good passer that can also score but is undersized.

Obviously, I'm not saying that all of them should be picked ahead of Duarte. That's mostly the case for the ones that had more than one sentence dedicated to them and not for the ones bunched up together in a single sentence. And yes, not all of them will work out. Some will work out great, while others will fail. That happens every year, after all. But I still see more potential in the ones I mentioned than I see in Duarte.

FWIW, I totally agree with you. This was a terrible pick under the circumstances. And now I see we've signed Torrey Craig. It's like we are collecting #8 and #9 rotational guys. Torrey will be perfect for sucking up minutes you could allocate to Duarte and Brissett

[Ree4erMadness]

Watch on YouTube

W for the Pacers, dude's a baller.

[Wizop]

FWIW, I totally agree with you. This was a terrible pick under the circumstances.

I think it is much too early to judge. I'd give it well into the season but can't we at least agree to wait until we see these guys play in summer league?

[8305]

FWIW, I totally agree with you. This was a terrible pick under the circumstances.

I think it is much too early to judge. I'd give it well into the season but can't we at least agree to wait until we see these guys play in summer league?

I hope he tears it up. I hated the Myles Turner pick too, then felt pretty stupid. But, now feel vindicated since they guy I wanted was Devin Booker. Read Moses Moody's scouting report and he sounds a lot like Booker. The Playoffs provided one more insult to injury reminder, I wanted Jru Holiday vs Tyler Hanbrough. The guys who run this team should be smarter than me and right now I'm not convinced they are.

[Boneman2]

Watch on YouTube

This video explains a lot about his backstory and should put to rest concerns about his age. His journey started later than most NBA level talent. Moving to New York. Couldn't speak English. This has to be taken into consideration when discussing his age because of the late start. Maybe he has the desire to compete until the very end, like Ron and Reggie. We shall see.

[8305]

Let’s say coming in he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender. Reasonable expectation given where we took him and who we left on the board? If he is that I’m seeing a better player than Caris Levert. Could he / should he push Levert to an off the bench role?

[Scoot McGroot]

Let’s say coming in he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender. Reasonable expectation given where we took him and who we left on the board? If he is that I’m seeing a better player than Caris Levert. Could he / should he push Levert to an off the bench role?

I mean, if he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender, I think that would be an All-Star caliber player, so long as he’s not a complete waste with the ball in his hands. I think that’d be a problem we’d be happy to work through.

[Wizop]

at this point only Sabonis is signed for 3 more seasons. everyone else is 1 or 2 years. as I see it there will be decisions to make next summer. some may get extensions, some may be traded as expiring contracts, and some may just be allowed to become free agents. It's certainly possible for Duarte to be the starter in year 3.

[Topofthekey]

Let’s say coming in he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender. Reasonable expectation given where we took him and who we left on the board? If he is that I’m seeing a better player than Caris Levert. Could he / should he push Levert to an off the bench role?

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

[Scoot McGroot]

Let’s say coming in he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender. Reasonable expectation given where we took him and who we left on the board? If he is that I’m seeing a better player than Caris Levert. Could he / should he push Levert to an off the bench role?

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

Maybe, but Duncan also took statistically some of the most difficult 3 point shots in the league. And he still hit almost 41% of his shots on 8.5 attempts per game. Even at a lower percentage, he’s still absolutely elite, even without taking into account the difficulty of his shots. Add in the difficulty, and he’s up there with Curry/Bertans/etc in terms of elite long range shooting. Motion, spot up, hand offs, corner, above the break, super deep, etc. He is good at them all.

[Tom White]

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

I don't think ranking #38 in a league of 30 teams, nor ranking behind the two players you've mentioned, would be anything to look down on. In the last season, he shot 40.8% from that distance. That is pretty special shooting in my book.

[Topofthekey]

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

I don't think ranking #38 in a league of 30 teams, nor ranking behind the two players you've mentioned, would be anything to look down on. In the last season, he shot 40.8% from that distance. That is pretty special shooting in my book.

Not considering him absolutely elite doesn't = looking down on him

He's still a fantastic shooter. I'm just not ready to put him on a pedestal and measure other players against him, yet

[Scoot McGroot]

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

I don't think ranking #38 in a league of 30 teams, nor ranking behind the two players you've mentioned, would be anything to look down on. In the last season, he shot 40.8% from that distance. That is pretty special shooting in my book.

Not considering him absolutely elite doesn't = looking down on him

He's still a fantastic shooter. I'm just not ready to put him on a pedestal and measure other players against him, yet

At his volume and difficulty of shots, you probably should.

[Topofthekey]

I don't think ranking #38 in a league of 30 teams, nor ranking behind the two players you've mentioned, would be anything to look down on. In the last season, he shot 40.8% from that distance. That is pretty special shooting in my book.

Not considering him absolutely elite doesn't = looking down on him

He's still a fantastic shooter. I'm just not ready to put him on a pedestal and measure other players against him, yet

At his volume and difficulty of shots, you probably should.

Yet I don't

Steph Curry attempts way more 3Ps than him while also being the focus of the opponent's defense and still converted his 3Ps at a much better clip

If there's a player who deserves to be placed on a pedestal and by whom other shooters will be measured, it's Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson - it's not even close

[Tom White]

Steph Curry attempts way more 3Ps than him while also being the focus of the opponent's defense and still converted his 3Ps at a much better clip

If there's a player who deserves to be placed on a pedestal and by whom other shooters will be measured, it's Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson - it's not even close

Steph shoots way more threes because that's is his main job. His whole team rotates around his 3pt shooting.
Now, about that "much better clip"?
This year Steph shot 42.1% from three, while Robinson shot 40.8%.
That's a 1.3% difference. A better clip? Yes. A much better clip? No, not really.

Out of One Hundred three point attempts, Steph only hit 1.3 more of them than Robinson.

[Topofthekey]

Steph Curry attempts way more 3Ps than him while also being the focus of the opponent's defense and still converted his 3Ps at a much better clip

If there's a player who deserves to be placed on a pedestal and by whom other shooters will be measured, it's Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson - it's not even close

Steph shoots way more threes because that's is his main job. His whole team rotates around his 3pt shooting.
Now, about that "much better clip"?
This year Steph shot 42.1% from three, while Robinson shot 40.8%.
That's a 1.3% difference. A better clip? Yes. A much better clip? No, not really.

Out of One Hundred three point attempts, Steph only hit 1.3 more of them than Robinson.

The point is, if they want to take a player as the gold standard for shooters, it's someone like Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson

Also,

McCollum - 3PA: 8.9, 3P%: 40.2%
Robinson - 3PA: 8.5, 3P%: 40.8%
Lavine - 3PA: 8.2, 3P%: 41.9%

His 3P stats are comparable to players like McCollum and Lavine

I mean, Robinson is a fantastic shooter, but I don't see why he should be singled out as a standard bearer of sorts

I feel it's mostly a byproduct of the residual hype surrounding him and other Heat players from their magical playoffs run

[Tom White]

The point is, if they want to take a player as the gold standard for shooters, it's someone like Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson

Also,

McCollum - 3PA: 8.9, 3P%: 40.2%
Robinson - 3PA: 8.5, 3P%: 40.8%
Lavine - 3PA: 8.2, 3P%: 41.9%

His 3P stats are comparable to players like McCollum and Lavine

I mean, Robinson is a fantastic shooter, but I don't see why he should be singled out as a standard bearer of sorts

I feel it's mostly a byproduct of the residual hype surrounding him and other Heat players from their magical playoffs run

Ah well, the truth be told? I'd be happy as heck if we had any of them.

[Scoot McGroot]

Not considering him absolutely elite doesn't = looking down on him

He's still a fantastic shooter. I'm just not ready to put him on a pedestal and measure other players against him, yet

At his volume and difficulty of shots, you probably should.

Yet I don't

Steph Curry attempts way more 3Ps than him while also being the focus of the opponent's defense and still converted his 3Ps at a much better clip

If there's a player who deserves to be placed on a pedestal and by whom other shooters will be measured, it's Steph Curry, not Duncan Robinson - it's not even close

Ah. I see our conflict here. When you say you don’t see Duncan Robinson as “elite”, that’s because you see “elite” to mean “the single greatest of all time”, whereas I tend to associate it more as “one of the absolute best around right now and a dangerous threat every year, no matter what”.

But yes. Steph Curry is better. Both can be elite though.

[8305]

Let’s say coming in he’s a Duncan Robinson level shooter and a plus defender. Reasonable expectation given where we took him and who we left on the board? If he is that I’m seeing a better player than Caris Levert. Could he / should he push Levert to an off the bench role?

Do take note that since the Heat's Cinderella run in '20, Duncan Robinson's 3P% has plummeted a lot this past season - he ranked #38 in the league in 3P% if I'm not mistaken, ranking behind guys like Paul George and Zach Lavine

I'm not ready to crown Duncan Robinson as an elite shooter just because he had one good season

It’s not about Duncan Robinson.

[Pacers Forever]

In seeing Duncan Robinson play a few games on tv this past season I actually think the Heat we’re a bit messed up. Why ? It seems that having Duncan Robinson, Tyler Hero, and Kendrick Nunn all chucking up shots they might have held all 3 of them back from developing into better players. It definitely seemed to me that Duncan was the least aggressive when maybe he should have been most aggressive. Nunn was too aggressive most times. Hero I don’t know what to think about him.