The Indiana Pacers have been mentioned as a team to potentially watch as the NBA’s free agency period begins. The team is flush with cap space, has one of the league’s premier young guards in Tyrese Haliburton, and is built around a roster that sure seems like it’s only a piece or two away from being able to make a run at a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
With that in mind, Indiana is apparently on the verge of pulling off a deal with the team that sent them Haliburton in the first place. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Pacers and the Sacramento Kings are close to a trade that will send Chris Duarte to the Western Conference. In return, Indiana will get draft compensation.
The Indiana Pacers are nearing a trade sending guard Chris Duarte to the Sacramento Kings for draft compensation, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 30, 2023
The move would reunite Duarte, a 26-year-old guard whom the Pacers selected with the 13th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, with Domantas Sabonis, the player that Indiana moved in the deal that landed them Haliburton. After getting an All-Rookie Second Team nod during his first year in the league, Duarte saw his role decrease during his sophomore campaign in part due to injury woes. He appeared in 46 games with 12 starts while averaging 7.9 points in 19.5 minutes per game and connected on 31.6 percent from his attempts from behind the three-point line.
