Duane Washington Jr.: Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Pickups

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ANALYSIS: Duane Washington Jr. landed with the Indiana Pacers (and Fort Wayne Mad Ants) via two-way contract after going undrafted out of Ohio State in 2021. The Frankfurt, Germany-native spent most of 2021 in Fort Wayne, seeing only 47 minutes of NBA action across five games from October through December; but the injury-plagued Pacers became desperate for viable back court reinforcement (they're back together with Lance Stephenson) and gave Washington the call for a longer stint in Indy based off his 19.5 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.4 assists in 32.5 minutes per game over 11 G League contests. It has been a hallmark of DWJ's career that the more warmed up and in rhythm he gets, the better he tends to play; and in averaging 23.0 minutes over 14 January games (six starts), that principle is again manifesting after he struggled to keep his efficiency at pace with his voluminous long-range shooting with the Mad Ants.

For January, the 6'3, 210-lb. point guard averaged 10.9 points and 2.1 assists per game, hitting 13 of 18 free throws, and 28 of 73 shots from deep (38.4%, 2.0 per game). He isn't strongly suited on defense at this point in his career, but his big-time showings should more than make up for that deficiency, averaging 12.9 points, 2.3 boards, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steal per game as a starter; and 15.8 points, 2.5 boards, and 3.3 assists in games where he plays 30-39 minutes. Just a week earlier, Washington led Indiana in scoring with 21 points and set the Pacers franchise record for most threes in a game by a rookie with seven. That's quite a significant impact on any given night for an undrafted two-way rookie stepping right into emergency, high-volume PT; but when you learn that his father (Duane Washington Sr.) was also in the NBA, and his uncle just happens to be Derek Fisher, and it was through his Uncle Derek that he was able to maintain a relationship with the late great Kobe Bryant growing up, his preparation doesn't come as much of a surprise. For a widely-available, high-scoring, deep-shooting point guard with the intangibles necessary to last in the NBA, Duane Washington Jr. presents an excellent option for folks in deeper formats.

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