Chris Duarte (SG, IND): Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups

Chris Duarte is worth considering as a fantasy basketball waiver wire pickup heading into Week 9 of the NBA season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in 12+ Team Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 54% of leagues

ANALYSIS:  Old rookie Chris Duarte got drafted by Indy and kicked his freshman season off with a bunch of bangs. In fact, Duarte was good for a season-high 27 pops in his debut all the way back on Oct. 20, a mark he's never reached again topping at 23 points in all 25 games he's played after that. Is that bad, though? No, sir. Duarte has started 20 of his 26 games, and although he hit the pine for a week and a half to close November he's now back on the starting Pacers lineup (five straight starts through Friday) while proving quite valuable for fantasy GMs.

If you have been paying attention to the newswire of late, you know Indy is committed to entering a deep rebuilding process. And hey, Duarte is the latest piece added to the squad through the draft, so it's not he won't feature heavily going forward. That's why CD is playing almost 30 MPG on the year, using 21.3% of the team's possessions, and doing actually well while at it thanks to his high good 13.3 PPG (the only rookie with 13+ points per game and fewer than 30 minutes nightly).

Duarte came into the League with a lower ceiling but a higher floor than most other rookies because of his age (24). Not that we care as long as keeps delivering goodies on a nightly basis and Indy keeps trusting him. Duarte is averaging 1.8 3PM per game in 26 games and shooting 43.6% from the field on 12 FGA this year. He's attempted fewer than 10 shots only once in the past 11 games going back to Nov. 20. He's been a menace on defense with an average of 1.1 SPG on the year and a better 1.5 SPG in the past eight games (two weeks). Not the highest assist numbers, but high enough rebounding (4.1 RPG) for his spot-up shooting role.

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