Former NBA first-round pick Chris Duarte has signed with Unicaja Malaga, the Spanish club announced in a press release. It’s a two-year deal for Duarte, with a team option on the second year.
Duarte, 28, was selected 13th overall in the 2021 draft out of Oregon and spent his first two seasons in Indiana before moving on to Sacramento and then Chicago.
The 6’5″ wing had a promising rookie year for the Pacers in 2021/22, posting 13.1 points per game with a 36.9% mark on three-pointers, but saw his playing time and production dwindle in the following years. In ’24/25, he averaged just 4.4 minutes per night across 17 appearance for the Bulls before waived in early February to accommodate the incoming players in the Zach LaVine trade.
A native of the Dominican Republic, Duarte joined the Puerto Rican team Vaqueros de Bayamon in March and averaged 19.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists with a .383 3PT% in 28 games. Now, he’ll head to Europe for the first time in his playing career.
Duarte will be joining a Unicaja Malaga squad that is coming off winning its second consecutive title in the FIBA Champions League. The club also finished fourth in the Liga ACB standings with a 23-11 record and advanced to the semifinals in the Spanish league’s postseason before being eliminated by Real Madrid, the eventual champs.
This is the guy Bob Myers was desperate for in the Jonathan Kuminga Moses Moody draft. Not at seven but at 14.
He was a “ready now” type player because he was older and somewhat seasoned. Pacers picked him up and Warriors settled on 18 year-old Moses Moody.
I suppose it was a lose, lose, lose, draft that year for the Warriors.
The final outcome is always a product of opportunity. Give 10 below-average talents all the confidence and a lot of playing minutes, find a role suited for them, and 2-3 of them might turn out very good, the other 3-4 will turn out average, and the rest 3-4 will be out of the league.
Give 10 above-average talents very little time, put little effort into identifying their best positions and strengths, and you’ll get the same outcome, maybe even worse.
We don’t know what would have happened had Duarte been drafted to GS. Maybe Kerr would have fallen in love with him, found a role, and he’d be playing right now. The guy hit some big shots in his first season.
But yes, that 2021 draft was a big loss for GS. Drafted two 18 y.o. guys, and mismanaged both.
In any case, good luck to Duarte. I’ll be watching him play in Spain next season.
Mismanaged both? They have no skills.
They are athletic and moody barely that. He has a great body, long arms, but he’s slow.
Not sure how the Warriors mismanaged them, I think they just drafted crappy. Bob Myers is a poor draft evaluator. You can’t draft guys with no skills and hope they turn into something.
Jonathan Kuminga is a poor man’s Obi Toppin. Athletic, shoots just well enough to stay in the league, dunks everywhere, can’t keep him on the floor longer than 25 minutes because he has no clue out there.
The big difference being JK is 6-6 not 6-9.
The Knicks considered him in the draft. I was hoping they would get him on a cheap deal. Knicks still need to bring back Shamet and possibly Burks. Never should have traded Grimes
Malaga got themselves a terrific scorer!
I remember when Stacey King told the fanbase last year that Duarte would a great addition to our rebuilding team, then he got cut in February. This is the type of silliness we have to deal with. Hyping up Duarte’s of the world to generate ticket sales.
Convinced he’s the official mascot of the Bulls, since Benny cannot talk at games.
Thibs was high on Duarte during his draft. As an older player who was more ready. He has had injury issues through out his career. And been in and out of rotations. Then you look up and he is 28. This is probably the best move for him. Steady PT to get your game going. Establish yourself there. Get your career back in order. NBA ain’t going anywhere. Or worse thing you have a career in Europe. Still balling. Wish him the best ……
I can’t believe we reached this point of the offseason BEFORE July 4th
Isn’t this the guy that was being hailed as the next Klay Thompson? Or was that someone else with a similar name.