The 2022 NBA Summer League season ended with the Portland Trail Blazers bringing the inaugural championship rings home to Oregon. The Blazers roster saw no former Ducks, yet a handful of familiar faces competed during the 11-day campaign, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Seven former Ducks are on NBA rosters while others remain hopeful, competing in pre-season competition. Only two of those seven played in any summer league games, joined by four other Oregon alums still on the brink of an NBA roster spot.
Chris Duarte
After averaging 18 points per game during his two-year Oregon career and being named First Team All-Pac-12, Chris Duarte was selected by the Indiana Pacers with the 13th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He shined in his rookie season, making the NBA Futures Game and starting in 39 of the 55 games he received minutes. He averaged 13 points per game, 4.1 rebounds, and a steal a night with a career-high of 27 points against the Warriors.
A year after being named to the All-Rookie Second Team, Duarte appeared in just one game during Summer League, as he has already shown his ability on an NBA court. In the one game, he had 16 points, three points higher than his rookie season average.
Eugene Omoruyi
Eugene Omoruyi played in one season with the Ducks after transferring from Rutgers and redshirting for a season. In that season, he averaged 17.1 points per game while being named First Team All-Pac-12.
Unlike his former teammate Duarte, Omoruyi went undrafted in the 2021 NBA Draft. Omoruyi was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Mavericks last year and was picked up by the Oklahoma City Thunder this offseason after signing a two-way contract. In four summer league games, Omoruyi averaged 8 points and 4 rebounds a game.
LJ Figueroa
LJ Figueroa was a key member of the Ducks’ rotation during their Sweet-16 run in 2021. After transferring from St. Johns. He averaged 12.3 points and six rebounds over his lone season at Oregon. His professional career has sent him to multiple summer league rosters, the G League, and overseas in his home country, Dominican Republic.
Figueroa was another member of the 2021 Oregon Men’s Basketball team who played in the summer league this season. He saw action in five games averaging close to nine points with the Charlotte Hornets.
Amauri Hardy
Amauri Hardy, much like the above players on this list, was a transfer and played one season in Eugene. In that season, the former four-star recruit struggled averaging less than four points a game despite averaging 14.5 at the University of Las Vegas the year prior. Since then, he is currently playing for the NBA G League.
He rounds out the members of the 2021 Oregon roster and appeared in his three summer league games with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In a limited role off the bench, Hardy averaged eight points.
Louis King
The first former Duck on this list who did not play on the 2021 roster is Louis King. King was a one-year player coming out of the 2018 recruiting class. The former five-star recruit averaged 13.5 points per game in his one-and-done season at Oregon and went undrafted in 2019.
He has since bounced around the league spending time with the Detroit Pistons and Sacramento Kings, at both the NBA and G League levels. In his third summer league season, he averaged 13 points and five rebounds in five games for the Phoenix Suns.
Abu Kigab
The last former Duck and second player from the 2019 roster to play in the summer league this season was Abu Kigab. Kigab hasn’t played for Oregon since that season, as he transferred to Boise State midway through the 2019 campaign. He only played in three total minutes during the summer league after breaking out in his three-year Boise State career. He finished the 2022 season averaging career highs in points (14.8), rebounds (5.7), assists (2.4), and steals (1.3). At Oregon he failed to receive meaningful playing time on the sweet-16 roster that fell short to the eventual champion University of Virginia.
