2021 NBA Draft

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Gold On The Clock: Welcome Home - 2021 Pacers Draft Series (Episode 3)

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Wheat Hotchkiss

Chris Duarte and Isaiah Jackson took two very different paths to the NBA, but their journeys ultimately led them to the same destination.

The Pacers' two picks in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft arrived in Indianapolis late Friday morning and were introduced to the media in a press conference at the Ascension St. Vincent Center, the culmination of a whirlwind week for the duo as they officially embark on their professional careers.

Both players arrived in Indiana via private jets, where they were greeted at the airport by Pacers mascot Boomer and members of the Indiana Pacemates, before heading to the team's practice facility to tour the building, meet coaches and staff, and then hold court with the media.

"We got two fantastic kids," Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard said at the start of Friday's press conference.

For Duarte, playing in the NBA was originally not what he envisioned while growing up in Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. In fact, he originally played baseball and was a star pitcher in Little League.

"Every Dominican's dream is to make it to the major leagues," Duarte said Friday.

But around the age of 13, basketball started to really grab his attention. Eventually, he decided to move to the United States for his final two years of high school to pursue basketball. He didn't speak any English when his family first moved to New York.

"Everything was different for me," he said. "Different food, different culture, different language."

He slowly learned the language with help from Duolingo and hanging around his teammates. After high school, he enrolled at Northwest Florida State College, a junior college on the Gulf Coast. Already 20 years old when he started playing, Duarte's NBA dreams still felt a long ways away, but he kept at it. The 6-6 wing put together two strong seasons, winning the NJCAA Player of the Year Award as a sophomore and was recruited to the University of Oregon.

Duarte's game continued to blossom in Eugene under the tutelage of head coach Dana Altman. He averaged 12.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in his first season with the Ducks, then made another leap last season, when he was named Pac-12 Player of the Year after averaging 17.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals while shooting 53.2 percent from the field and 42.4 percent from 3-point range.

Duarte turned 24 in June, making him the oldest player in this year's draft class. In fact, when the Pacers selected him on Thursday with the 13th overall pick, he was the oldest player selected in the first round since 2002.

But in this case, his age didn't deter the Pacers, who fell in love with Duarte on and off the court. He visited Indiana for a pre-draft workout on July 21, just eight days before the draft. The Pacers also spoke to Altman, who raved about the energetic Dominican guard.

"He basically said he's the most competitive kid he's ever coached," Pritchard said Friday. "And he's willing to do the work to become a great defensive player and a great offensive player."

Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle told the media Thursday night that they view Duarte's game as polished enough that he could conceivably crack Indiana's rotation right away as a rookie. They love his tenacity on the defensive end, but Pritchard said his offensive skillset was ultimately what led the Blue & Gold to take him at 13.

"As you're watching the Finals and the semifinals, there seems to be one trait that's getting elevated and more important every year," Pritchard said. "And that is can you break a guy down off the dribble and elevate and shoot. And he's elite at that...he's a shot creator, but he's also a shot maker."

Duarte hopes to fill that role on the court for Indiana. And while his attention is focused on basketball now, he still has one last dream on the baseball diamond.

"A lot of people don't believe that I throw 90 (miles per hour), but I'm going to prove it," he joked on Friday. "I'm going to show it one time."

Duarte also has a special inspiration in his son, Christopher Jr., who stole the show on draft night. When his name was called, Duarte gave his son a lengthy kiss on the head. And then as he was being interviewed by ABC, Duarte was joined by his son, who sat on the lap of his mother and Duarte's girlfriend, Sylvia Velazquez. Christopher Jr. was nonplussed by all the attention surrounding his father and much more interested in playing with the nearby microphone.

Duarte said his son was born in the spring of 2020 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which in some ways turned out to be a blessing for him as it allowed him to spend several months with Christopher while he was a newborn.

"I love that boy," Duarte said. "He makes me work harder, day in and day out. He makes me push harder every day. I love him so much and I'm just happy to be a dad."

While Duarte is one of the oldest players in recent draft history, Jackson followed a more prototypical path to the NBA. The 19-year-old was a "one-and-done" player who spent a year at college's biggest NBA factory, the University of Kentucky.

Jackson was the 33rd first-round pick from Kentucky under Hall of Fame coach John Calipari. When the Pacers selected him with the 22nd overall pick (acquired via a trade with details to be announced later), it made it 12 straight seasons that a Wildcat has been selected in the first round.

For the Pacers, acquiring Jackson was the culmination of a "very active" night, as Pritchard described it. The Blue & Gold entered the evening with two late second-round selections, the 54th and 60th overall picks, but through a series of maneuvers were able to move back into the first round to add a second player they really liked.

"It happened very quickly," Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan explained Friday. "It was almost on the clock, to be honest with you...We had targeted a couple players that were falling. Isaiah looked like he might be able to be gettable if we could get to the right spot.

"And the deal literally came on the clock. We had to communicate to one team who we were drafting and they had to communicate that to the other team. We were thrilled to get it."

It was a wild sequence for Jackson, too. He was told that he was headed to Indiana, but then Commissioner Adam Silver announced that the Lakers, who owned the 22nd pick entering the night, were drafting him. He was summoned up to the stage as purple and gold flashed on the screen and handed a Lakers hat (later, the league would swap that out for a Pacers hat).

"It's been real crazy," Jackson said. "Andrew, my agent, he sort of calmed me down a bit, telling me Indiana was picking me up. But when it first happened, it was just a bottle of emotions. I was scared to do my interviews because I didn't want to have to do something with the Lakers if I was not going there."

Ultimately, Indiana was the preferred destination for Jackson, who grew up a few hours away in Detroit and has visited the city many times for tournaments in the past. His parents and his brother accompanied him to Friday's press conference and were elated to see him end up at a franchise within driving distance.

"I hold my family dearly to my heart, so hearing that I was getting picked up close to home, it put a smile to my face," Jackson said.

The 6-10 big man started 18 of 25 games in his lone year at Kentucky, where he averaged 8.4 points on 54 percent shooting and 6.6 rebounds, but most impressively blocked 2.6 shots in 20.8 minutes per game.

"We need to have an infusion of athleticism on this team," Carlisle said of Jackson's addition. "We need shotblocking. We really don't have a prototypical rim threat for lobs. And we need defensive versatility. When he worked out here and played here in the competitive part of (the workout), he demonstrated a feel for the game that I thought was unique for a guy 6-9, 6-10 that had been playing center."

After that workout, Carlisle pulled Jackson aside to work on a few potential adjustments to his shot. Jackson mentioned that moment as when he started to think that he could end up in Indiana. For Carlisle, it was a chance to test Jackson's adaptability.

"We believe long-term that he has a great chance to develop into not only a five that can block shots, run, and do all those things, but can also become a skilled four," Carlisle said. "It's going to take work...His role at Kentucky was more as a rim-runner, rim threat. He wasn't on the perimeter that much.

"But in our game today, you're seeing that the centers are shooting the ball from 30 feet. And so there's got to be a developmental path and a trajectory for a guy like him that has the feel and the tools."

Jackson is open to that developmental process. Though he wasn't born until 2002, he is a student of the game and cited Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett as his favorite player. Jackson said Friday that he has "already got the defensive intensity" that Garnett played with but hopes to also develop his shot under Carlisle's guidance to hopefully one day also possess the same offensive capabilities as his idol.

"He's just got an amazing opportunity with an organization that believes in him and what he's been about and what he can become," Carlisle said. "This is a very exciting day. He's by no means a finished product, but nor is Chris Duarte. These guys are both going to get better and better."

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Different Paths Lead Duarte, Jackson to Indiana

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Pacers Draft Isaiah Jackson

After an active night, the Pacers added two key pieces on Thursday in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, Oregon guard Chris Duarte and Kentucky big man Isaiah Jackson.

First, the Pacers selected Duarte with the 13th pick. A 6-6 guard, Duarte shot 42.4 percent from 3-point range as a senior at Oregon, where he was named Pac-12 Player of the Year and an All-American after averaging 17.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.9 steals.

Originally from the Dominican Republic, the 24-year-old came to the United States in high school and spent two years in junior college before enrolling in Oregon in 2019.

"A kid from the Dominican Republic...not a lot of kids make it out," Duarte said. "So me being one of those kids, it's a blessing. I'm grateful for my family and the people that helped me to get here. I'm grateful for the work I put in...I'm really excited about the future."

Duarte told the media after being drafted that he felt good about the fit with the Pacers after visiting the team last week.

"I went to Indiana and I had a great, great workout there. I met with the front office and we really connected well...When I left Indiana, I was confident in myself. So I knew if I was on the board by Indiana coming to pick, I knew that there was a high chance that they were going to take me."

PHOTO GALLERY: Pacers Select Chris Duarte »

The feeling was definitely mutual. The Pacers also came away impressed from Duarte's workout and interview and were thrilled to see him on the board at 13.

"I think he's got a great chance to crack our rotation right off the bat," Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle said. "One of the reasons that we were drawn to him was the fact that he was more of a finished product than a lot of the guys in the draft and we're trying to get healthy and win games."

"His athleticism is underrated. His skillset is unique. At 6-6, he has both length, speed, and quickness. We just feel like he can do a lot of things at both ends of the floor."

"Chris is somebody that's really grown over the last two years at the University of Oregon...great work ethic, great toughness," Pacers general manager Chad Buchanan added. "He's got a very unique story to where he's got tonight. He's a guy we've tracked over the last two years. His shooting's improved, his ballhandling's improved.

"He may be 24 years old, but he really started playing basketball as a teenager, so he's relatively young to the game."

Speaking with ABC after being drafted, Duarte was joined by his young son and reflected on how being a father has impacted him.

"Chris is everything for me," the elder Duarte said. "Since he got here, since he got to my life, he means everything to me and my family. I love him. He makes me work harder every day."

Drafting in the lottery for the first time since 2015, the Pacers hope they have landed another impact player. Their last lottery pick, Myles Turner, has been a starter since midway through his rookie season and led the NBA in blocks twice.

Duarte has the potential to have a similar two-way impact with his ability to shoot and attack on offense while also guarding multiple positions defensively.

"We're really happy to have him," Carlisle said. "I think he's a guy that Indiana Pacer basketball fans are going to fall in love with because of his passion, the kind of teammate he's going to be, and the way he's going to represent the city."

The Pacers also acquired the rights to Jackson in a trade to be finalized later and took him with the 22nd overall pick. The 6-10 forward from Pontiac, Mich. turned pro after a freshman year where he averaged 8.4 points on 54 percent shooting and 6.6 rebounds in 25 games.

Jackson is best known for his shotblocking. He averaged 2.6 blocks in just 20.7 minutes per night. He blocked eight shots against Kansas in the Champions Classic in just his third collegiate game and also had seven blocks in 23 minutes against eventual SEC champions Alabama on Jan. 23.

"He comes from a terrific program that is notorious for producing great NBA players," Buchanan said. "We feel like his energy, his motor is a great foundation to work with."

PHOTO GALLERY: Pacers Select Isaiah Jackson »

Jackson said he felt an immediate connection with the Pacers at his July 7 workout, where Carlisle pulled him aside and worked with him individually on his shooting form. He couldn't believe it when he found out Indiana was acquiring him.

"It lived up to everything, just having my name called, getting drafted, it's just, it's mind blowing," Jackson said. "Like I'm still right now trying to — I don't feel anything right now but I'm still trying to — it just feels like a dream in a way. Like it's just crazy right now, like I'm just trying to bottle all my emotions."

Carlisle said Jackson will immediately be one of the best athletes on the Pacers roster and was impressed with his coachability.

"I'm a hard worker," Jackson said. "I bring it all, I'm a defensive anchor. I'm going to be their energy guy that Indiana needs and like I keep saying, I can't wait to get there and get to work and show everybody, prove everybody wrong."

In their two picks, the Pacers got two very different types of players. The 24-year-old Duarte could play right away, while Jackson may take longer to develop, but could ultimately have the higher ceiling.

"We kind of had the philosophy tonight that we had two opportunities to take a swing at the plate," Buchanan said. "And we wanted to kind of go for what we felt was a pretty sure thing and we wanted to take a swing with the other one (at) a younger, more high-upside potential."

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Pacers Draft Chris Duarte, Isaiah Jackson

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Pacers Draft Chris Duarte

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Final 2021 Pacers Mock Draft Projections

The past year has been pretty special for the Antetokounmpo family. In October, Kostas Antetokounmpo won an NBA championship as a member of the Lakers. Older brothers Giannis and Thanasis collected rings of their own earlier this month, with Giannis being named NBA Finals MVP after leading the Bucks to their first title in 50 years.

Now, the youngest Antetokounmpo brother is hoping to follow in their footsteps. 19-year-old Alex worked out for the Pacers on Tuesday in Indiana's final pre-draft workout before Thursday's 2021 NBA Draft. Alex participated in a two-man workout alongside former UC Santa Barbara guard JaQuori McLaughlin.

The rise of the Antetokounmpo family has been well documented, but Alex's story is less well known. Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo immigrated from Nigeria to Greece, where four of their five sons were born (the oldest, Francis, was born in Nigeria). Although they originally played soccer, the boys took up basketball while living in Athens, with Thanasis (the second-oldest) and then Giannis (the middle child) eventually joining the club Filiathlitikos.

Their world changed forever in 2013, when the Bucks drafted Giannis with the 15th overall pick. Alex and Kostas moved to Milwaukee alongside their older brother. Alex was just 11 years old and didn't speak any English, but slowly grew acclimated to a new culture while Giannis blossomed into one of the league's biggest stars.

Thanasis was drafted in 2014, while Kostas attended the University of Dayton for a year before being selected with the final pick of the 2018 Draft.

Alex eventually enrolled at Dominican High School in Whitefish Bay, Wisc. He was a first-team all-state selection as both a junior and senior, averaging 20 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.6 blocks per game in 2019-20. He had offers from a few colleges, including DePaul, Ohio, and Green Bay, but instead elected to head overseas, signing a contract with the club UCAM Murcia CB in Spain.

"I felt as if it was the best decision for me as far as developing," he said on Tuesday.

It's difficult to track down stats for the youngest Antetokounmpo in Europe. He reportedly had a strong debut with the club's second team (comprised of younger players) in October, tallying 28 points on 8-of-12 shooting, 6-of-9 from 3-point range. According to Eurobasket.com, Alex appeared in just one game with the senior team, logging two minutes in an April 15 contest.

So while his brother is of the most well-known athletes in the world, Alex is a virtual unknown to the average fan, unless they happen to have watched a lot of Wisconsin high school or Spanish B-team basketball. Scouts, of course, have a better feel for the 6-8 forward with a 7-2 wingspan and have undoubtedly been tracking him closely given his family's reputation.

"Energetic," Alex said when asked to describe his game. "I would say I'm a leader, pretty vocal on and off the court. I just try to contribute to the game in any way I can.

"Obviously I'm kind of a raw talent, but just my versatility. I'm able to do a lot of things on the basketball court. Definitely my measurements, I have long arms, the way I can affect the game with my length."

Alex may not have the sheer size of Giannis, but he definitely shares a similar build to his brothers, particularly with his length. To varying degrees, each brother that has entered the league has been pretty raw, so that alone wouldn't shy a franchise away from potentially drafting or signing the youngest brother and hoping he can develop with repetitions in the G League.

The Pacers were the third team that Alex worked out for. He said his pitch to teams is that he is "coachable" and "willing to adjust and learn" with any team that thinks it can help unlock his potential.

"I don't think I've touched nowhere near where I could be," he said. "I just have to keep getting better, keep getting better, and one day tap that potential that I have."

Of course, Alex has the benefit of having what he called "an unbelievable support system" in three brothers that have already reached the NBA. He received some extra motivation this month after watching Giannis and Thanasis bring a championship to Milwaukee.

"It's unbelievable," he said. "Just to be able to witness it and kind of be a part of it through them and just seeing how happy they are and how deserving they are.

"I was talking to my mother...16,000 people in the arena, 60,000 people right outside it. I was asking her, 'When is the next time you're going to see that many people happy at the same time?' She was like, 'I might never see it.' It was a crazy, crazy, crazy experience. I hope I get to witness another experience like that in my life."

Should Alex reach the NBA, the Antetokounmpo brothers would join rarified air. There have been a number of trios of brothers to play in the league in recent years, including the Holidays, Plumlees, and Zellers. But it appears that only once before have four brothers all reached the NBA — Caldwell, Charles, Wil, and Major Jones, who played primarily in the 1970s and 80s (Wil actually was a member of the Pacers in their inaugural NBA season in 1976-77).

Alex admitted that joining that elite fraternity would be a dream come true for him and his family, but said that those thoughts are far from his mind at the moment.

"I try to focus on myself," he said. "And try to focus on one thing at a time and just getting better in order to one day achieve that goal."

UC Santa Barbara guard JaQuori McLaughlin (#3) was the Big West Player of the Year as a senior. (Photo Credit: NBAE/Getty Images)

While Alex Antetokounmpo is an admittedly raw talent, McLaughlin is a more polished product. The 23-year-old combo guard spent five seasons in college, beginning his career at Oregon State before transferring to UC Santa Barbara.

McLaughlin averaged 16 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.2 steals, and 1.5 assists as a senior, leading the Gauchos to a 22-5 record, conference title, and a berth in the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to fifth-seeded Creighton in one of the best first-round games, a 63-62 thriller that came down to the final seconds.

The 6-4 guard possesses a few qualities that could entice NBA teams. He shot over 40 percent from 3-point range in each of his last two seasons in college and also displayed plenty of ability as a playmaker capable of creating his own shots or setting up his teammates. McLaughlin had a .614 true shooting percentage and also a 31.5 percent assist percentage as a senior, both the highest marks of his collegiate career.

Still, he put up those numbers in relative obscurity in the Big West, which he thinks could be a factor in the lack of recognition he receives in mock draft projections.

"I definitely feel like I'm underrated," McLaughlin said. "I feel like I've had a chip on my shoulder my whole life, so it's nothing new to me. I feel like I love being the underdog."

As for what he can bring to the team, McLaughlin laid out why he believes he is a good fit on and off the court.

"Someone that can come off the bench my first couple years, help the team out, make winning plays any way I can, and be that leader," he said. "Someone that's going to come in, contribute to the culture of a team."

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Youngest Antetokounmpo Hoping to Follow in Brothers' Footsteps

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Height: 6-7
Weight: 190
Position: SF
Club: UCAM Murica CB (Spain)
Age: 19

2019-2020 Season Stats (at Dominican High School in Wisconsin)
PPG: 20.3
RPG: 7.3