Total Snub: Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Atlanta Hawks And Sacramento Kings Get A Player On The All-Summer League First Team, But The NBA Left Off This Indiana Pacers Star
Chris Duarte of the Indiana Pacers was flat out snubbed from the All-Summer League First Team.
The full list of players who made the first team can be seen in a post that is embedded below from the NBA Summer League Twitter account.
All of the players that made the team were deserving, but Duarte should have found himself on the list.
The First-Team:
- Cam Thomas (Brooklyn Nets)
- Jalen Smith (Phoenix Suns)
- Payton Pritchard (Boston Celtics)
- Davion Mitchell (Sacramento Kings)
- Jalen Johnson (Atlanta Hawks)
- Trey Murphy III (New Orleans Pelicans)
- Obi Toppin (New York Knicks)
The 13th overall pick by the Pacers in the 2021 NBA Draft averaged 18.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 2.5 steals and 1.8 blocks per game.
He also shot an unbelievable 48.3% from the three-point range, while attempting over seven three-pointers per contest.
Maybe the most impressive thing he did at NBA Summer League was not the shooting, but the incredible defense. He comes into the NBA as a known shooter, but his defense early on shows the promise of a potential All-NBA level defender.
Out of the other guards who made the first team (Thomas, Pritchard and Murphy), none of them averaged 2+ steals, and only Murphy averaged 1+ blocks.
Duarte was one of the best if not the best defenders in all of NBA Summer League.
His 2.5 steals per game were sixth in the entire NBA at Summer League.
None of the guards were as balanced on both offense and defense as Duarte except for Murphy.
That being said, Duarte shot a better percentage from three-point range, averaged more steals and blocks, and averaged more points and assists than Murphy.
The NBA made a mistake not including the former Oregon star on the First-Team.
