Duren is owning the paint on both ends of the floor and it is reshaping the Pistons ceiling
The Detroit Pistons are one of the hottest teams in the NBA, but they struggled mightily in the first month and a half of the season. You could blame a grueling early-season schedule. You could blame an endless transition of learning a new coach’s system for the second consecutive year. If you ask Jalen Duren, though, he might blame himself.
“I think it’s pretty obvious I started the season slow on some soft s***,” Duren told the Detroit Free Press in February. The season’s low point hit Dec. 19. The Pistons surrendered 126 points to the Utah Jazz to fall six games below .500. It was the fifth time in six games Detroit allowed an opponent to score at least 123 points.
Whether it was a wake-up call or things began clicking into pace, the Pistons turned their season around by increasing their defensive pressure and attention. A lot of that credit goes to Duren.
The Low Point for the Big Man
In that December matchup, the third-year center was a team-low -26 in just 25 minutes. Limited to eight points on four field-goal attempts. Fast forward to Monday, when the Pistons faced the Jazz again. Duren was a team-high +31 on the floor and had a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double with four blocks, two steals, and two assists for good measure.
Prior to Dec. 19, the Pistons ranked 18th in defense. In the 34 games since then, they rank fourth and sport the fifth-best net rating in the NBA. There is no reason to discount the incredible impact Ausar Thompson has made as the team’s best perimeter defender, and Isaiah Stewart remains one of the best defensive reserves in the NBA. But none of that matters if Duren isn’t stepping up as the starter his team needs him to be.
Since that last loss to the Jazz, Duren has turned his season around and, with it, potentially his future with the Pistons. Since Dec. 20 (min. 20 games), Duren ranks second among centers in rebounding percentage and true shooting percentage. He’s also communicating better with teammates, blocking more shots, and becoming more comfortable as an off-ball facilitator.
“It was me knowing myself, gotta pick it up if we want to do what we want to do,” he said. “Holding myself accountable and knowing how I can affect the game and coming in there and trying to do that every night,” Duren told the Free Press.
The Perfect Offensive Weapon for Cade
Duren was seemingly made in a lab as a perfect offensive complement to star guard Cade Cunningham. His size, burst, and soft hands make him an ideal pick-and-roll partner with an elite point guard.
Duren’s 171 dunks this season rank second only behind Giannis Antetokounmpo this season. Of Cade Cunningham’s 535 assists, no one has benefited more than Duren.
That rim pressure also helps open up opportunities for others. In a neat twist, nobody has thrown an assist to Cunningham more than Duren. The attention defenses must pay to him as he rumbles toward the basket also creates opportunities for Cade to finish inside unimpeded and space for the team’s outside shooters to get clean looks at the basket. Without defenses needing to account for Jalen Duren, Malik Beasley isn’t having the best 3-point shooting season of his career and Pistons franchise history.
Becoming an Impact Defender
His offense has never been a question. Duren’s ceiling as a defender has been in question, however. That question has gotten more pressing as the games have piled on, and big financial decisions will need to be made on whether Duren is part of the long-term future as the Pistons look to build a title-contending team around Cunningham.
In Duren’s rookie year, the Pistons ranked 28th in defensive efficiency. In his second year, they ranked 26th. To make matters worse, the team was significantly worse defensively with Duren at center than when he sat.
The gifts were apparent, and Duren excelled as a rim-running big man. But he had no stretch to his game; he was turnover-prone when he tried to become a facilitator, and he wasn’t someone you could ask to protect the paint.
What kind of investment can a team make in a big man who can’t shoot, pass, or defend? That question was staring the franchise in the face until Duren committed to answering the concerns with his play on the floor this season.
Now, he’s consistently racking up assists from the high post and in the pick-and-roll. He had a stretch of six games recently that saw him dish 34 assists and committed just nine turnovers. Duren has 10 games this season of amassing at least three blocks. In the previous two seasons combined, it only happened 12 times.
Becoming a Core Piece of the Future
Duren is a huge part of the turnaround in Detroit. His rim pressure is unlocking the offense, and his defensive improvement is allowing the team to go from one of the league’s worst to one of the league’s best.
Cade Cunningham is the foundation on which the core and a contending Pistons team will be built. Who is going to join him? Ausar Thompson is making a case with every steal and basket cut. Jaden Ivey was having a career season before his injury. And Jalen Duren is scoring inside, moving the ball, blocking shots, and defending better than he ever has in his career.
Duren might have been soft early in the season. But he’s firmly planted himself as a fixture of this team going forward. He isn’t going anywhere.