Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren will determine Kelly Olynyk’s fate
Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren is too good to keep out of the lineup
As I said before, Duren was impressive at times in the Summer League, and offers the type of shot blocking and athleticism that Kelly Olynyk does not.
If he impresses in training camp, and the Pistons want to get a jump start on the future, they could throw Duren into the rotation right away, potentially making Olynyk redundant before the season even starts.
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Detroit was trying Stewart out at power forward in the Summer League for this eventuality, as they want their two young bigs to be able to play together, and if that match proves to be effective, why not just start using it now?
Olynyk is also one of the Pistons’ better trade assets, so if they think Duren is ready to assume minutes in the rotation, Detroit could trade Olynyk before the season even starts.
I’d say this is the least-likely scenario, as it Duren would have to be pretty impressive in training camp to make the Pistons comfortable with this type of move, but they were super high on him coming into the draft and may feel he is ahead of schedule.
It’s likely the Pistons will bring Duren along slowly, but if he earns those minutes right away, Olynyk could be shipped off to open up a spot in the rotation.
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