Chris Duarte officially traded to Sacramento Kings for two second-round draft picks

Duarte was a lottery pick in 2021

The Indiana Pacers have officially traded guard/wing Chris Duarte to the Sacramento Kings.

A league source told AllPacers on Thursday that the Pacers would receive two second-round draft picks for Duarte, and that is indeed what the blue and gold grabbed from the Kings. Shams Charania of The Athletic reported the trade would take place earlier in the week.

Both teams announced the transaction earlier today. According to Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star, the Pacers will receive the Mavericks 2028 second rounder and the Kings 2030 second-round pick in the deal. Both of those selections are far into the future, but both franchises will see the contracts of star players expire by that time, so they could be better picks in round two.

Duarte had a great rookie season for Indiana, where he averaged 13.1 points per game and made the NBA's All-Rookie second-team. His outside shooting looked like a weapon, and his defense proved to be solid. He looked like an important piece for the franchise at the time.

But his second season went poorly. Duarte's efficiency cratered as his true shooting percentage dipped below 50%, and he never quite seemed to fit in with his teammates on the court. Indiana's pace jumped significantly from year one to year two of Duarte's career, and he was more effective within the slower-paced approach from the 2021-22 team instead of the up-tempo group.

Duarte averaged 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game this past season and shot 36.9% from the field. He dealt with multiple injuries and played in just 46 games. "That's something that I can't control. Stuff like that happens. You've just gotta sit down and keep going forward," he said after the season of being banged up.

The addition of Bruce Brown (via free agency) and Ben Sheppard (via the NBA Draft) meant that the Pacers had several guard/wing types on the roster and not enough minutes to go around. Moving Duarte clears some of that logjam and gets the Pacers some assets in the process. Now, the former lottery pick is off to Sacramento where he will be reunited with former Pacers center Domantas Sabonis.

The Pacers have added several future draft picks this offseason in various moves. They have plenty of assets to make a big transaction in the future, if they are so inclined. Moving on from Duarte also opened up a roster spot, which is something the team has to juggle heading into the regular season. As it stands, once the reported Obi Toppin trade is complete, the Pacers will have 15 players on standard contracts and two two-way players. They can carry up to 21 players in total in training camp, but that number must be down to 18 (15 standard, three two-ways as a maximum) by the regular season.

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• Source: Indiana Pacers sign Bruce Brown to two-year contract in NBA Free Agency. CLICK HERE.
• Report: Tyrese Haliburton to sign five-year, $260 million contract extension with the Indiana Pacers. CLICK HERE.
• Jarace Walker's high school program director breaks down the Pacers' lottery pick's growth. CLICK HERE.
• Report: Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks agree on a trade to send Obi Toppin to Pacers. CLICK HERE.
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