The Detroit Pistons may have gotten the steal of the draft last year when they were able to get Jalen Duren with the 13th pick.
Duren, who is the youngest player in the NBA, has already earned a starting position and has been averaging a double double since getting it. He’s only 19, but he’s already one of the best rebounders in the NBA and has put himself in the record books alongside LeBron James with some big performances this season.
Duren leads all rookies in rebounding, and has recently overtaken his teammate Jaden Ivey in some of the rookie rankings.
Ivey is certainly the more complete player right now, but Duren has a solid floor as a rebounder and rim runner and his ceiling will be raised considerably as his offensive game develops and as he gets better protecting the rim.
But the rebounding is already elite and Jalen Duren has a chance to put himself onto the Detroit Pistons’ All-Time list.
Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren could be all-time great rebounder
It’s far too early into his young career to really be talking about all-time lists, but Duren’s age and rebounding prowess make him a strong candidate to be the Detroit Pistons’ best rebounder in history in terms of totals.
Currently, that mark is held by Bill Laimbeer, who recorded 9,430 rebounds for the Detroit Pistons in his 14-year career. Laimbeer did lead the league in rebounding once and had a stretch of six straight seasons of averaging more than 10 per game.
Laimbeer was one of the most durable players at his position in his career, as he rarely missed games, playing all 82 an unbelievable seven times in his career. He played 81 games four times, 80 games once and 79 in another, so Laimbeer only had one season in his entire career where he didn’t play at least 79 games.
With all of the injuries and load management it will be tough for any big man to match those durability numbers in the modern game, but Duren has something going in his favor.
Laimbeer didn’t even join the NBA until he was 23, a full five years after Duren, who was just 18-years-old when the season started. Laimbeer didn’t win a rebounding title until he was 28, so Duren could easily surpass him just on age alone.
Laimbeer averaged 673 rebounds per season in his career, and Duren is currently on pace to end this season with 687, which would put him well ahead of the pace, and that’s after only starting 26 games so far.
Andre Drummond, who is the Pistons’ career leader in rebounds per game, averaged 13.9 per game for his career with Detroit, but averaged just 7.9 in his rookie year compared to Duren’s 8.7 and Duren is likely to play more games this season than Drummond did in his opening campaign.
It will really just come down to longevity and durability for Duren, whose age and early impact will give him a chance to be Detroit’s all-time leading rebounder.