Why the Memphis Grizzlies should avoid Chris Duarte with No. 17 pick

Before I get into the reasoning behind why the Memphis Grizzlies shouldn’t take Chris Duarte, it’s important to develop some background on the subject.

The Memphis Grizzlies finished with a 38-34 record in 2020-21. This was near the middle of the road, earning them the No. 17 spot in the NBA Draft. Last season, Memphis made their first selection at number 30, so barring any trades, this one will be earlier than last year.

That said, the Grizzlies made a couple of incredible selections in last year’s draft. Most notably, they selected Desmond Bane with the 30th overall pick. Bane would end up earning All-Rookie Second-Team honors in his first season with a surprise shooting year.

But that very same emergence of Desmond Bane might be the reason why the Grizzlies shouldn’t take one of their expected prospects.

Chris Duarte may no longer have room to play for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2021-22

Rewind to the beginning of the 2020-21 season and Chris Duarte seems like a great fit for the Memphis Grizzlies. As a shooting guard out of Oregon, he would join Dillon Brooks as the team’s second former Duck.

Duarte is a strong 3-point shooter, knocking down over 42% of his long-range shots at the college level. At 6’6″, 190 lbs, he has the size to fit in at the NBA level and played strong enough defense to avoid being a liability. In a handful of mock drafts, Duarte is the name that pops up at the number 17 spot, where the Memphis Grizzlies will be selecting a player in the first round.

This used to be a Grizz team that struggled to shoot the ball, consistently ranking near the bottom of the league in 3-point shooting statistics. Selecting Duarte made sense.

Fast forward to today and… okay, well, the Grizzlies are still pretty bad at shooting. They finished the season with a bottom-half 3-point percentage and the 24th spot in 3-pointers made. The difference, however, is the fact that they have the aforementioned 30th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft in Desmond Bane, who emerged as the team’s most consistent shooter this past season.

The rookie out of TCU was in and out of the team’s starting lineup, knocking down over 43.2% of his deep balls, shooting at a relatively high volume. Bane essentially became the Grizzlies’ 6th shooting guard and added to a team that already had an overflow of wing players.

In front of him on the depth chart, you’ll see Grayson Allen, who knocked down over 39% of his 3-pointers this past season. Behind Bane, you’ll see De’Anthony Melton, who dropped 41.2% of his deep buckets.

As much as Chris Duarte would fit on the Grizzlies, this team does not need another shooting guard who can shoot the ball.

If Memphis is smart, they’ll look to find more depth at the big, possibly even a guy who can stretch the floor. Even a larger defensive wing like Franz Wagner could add to this team without worsening a log jam.