The NBA revealed those selected for the ideal rookie teams for the 2021-22 season, highlighting the presence of Dominican player Chris Duarte as part of the second unit of the first-year stars.
Within the votes made by journalists and sports announcers, Duarte received a total of 52 votes to be part of the second team, while he received no votes to be part of the five that made up the main list.
Scottie Barnes, Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley were unanimously selected to the 2021-22 Kia NBA All-Rookie First Team.
More ➡️ https://t.co/eqKb0CU5GU
Voting results ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/sxxe12SfTu
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) May 19, 2022
During the beginning of the campaign, the Indiana Pacers player was one of the great candidates to win the Rookie of the Year award, but thanks to the irregularity of his team and also to physical problems in the second half of the campaign, his options were diluted.
The main quintet was made up of the Rookie of the Year, Scottie Barnes, along with Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Franz Wagner and Jalen Green. All of them arrived with the label of future NBA stars and revalidated it, several of them being fundamental in the season of their organizations.
Duarte’s role was also very important, not only being one of the best players in the Pacers second unit with 13.1 points per game, even playing several times as a starter. Plus, he was an ideal partner for Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert in the rotation. Despite this, he ended up playing only 55 games due to an injury to his right foot.
After an impressive rookie campaign, Chris Duarte is selected to the All-Rookie second team. The 13th overall pick joins a talented group of young players ?.https://t.co/tTCIaJ1TSE
— 8 Points, 9 Seconds (@8pts9secs) May 19, 2022
The selection of the Dominican for the second team is more than fair, surpassing other young figures such as Jonathan Kuminga and Davion Mitchell, who fell short compared to the votes received by Duarte.
There is a very interesting future for this young 24-year-old player and although he will be competing with a strong generation like 2021, he has the potential to make a leap in quality that will even allow him to aspire to be part of the All-Star Game and get another type of awards.
