Jalen Duren is having a breakout season and is now drawing comparisons to some of the greats, including Dwight Howard.
Bill Simmons made this comparison on a recent episode of his podcast, and there are certainly some similarities. Both guys are physical marvels who can do things that players their size shouldn’t be able to.
Both Howard and Duren can dominate games physically in ways that few centers around the league can, and both came into the league as teenagers disguised as full-grown men, but that’s about where the similarities end for me.
Jalen Duren isn’t close to the defender that Dwight Howard was
Duren has made impressive strides on the defensive end when it comes to positioning and overall effort, but he’s still not in the same tier as Howard was as a defender.
Howard was the Defensive Player of the Year three times in a row and made first team All-Defense four straight years. He led the NBA In blocks twice, led the league in rebounding five times and made eight straight All-Star appearances largely on the back of his defense.
Howard was considered the best defensive big in the NBA for the entirety of his prime, so even though Duren has made progress, he’s not anywhere close to where Howard was at his age when it comes to defense.
Offense is a different story.
Jalen Duren is already better on offense than Dwight Howard ever was
Duren has good handles, is a very good passer and is increasingly beating people off the dribble and finishing with either hand around the basket, all things Howard was never able to do.
Even though Howard never shot outside of the paint, his very best season when it comes to field goal percentage isn’t as good as what Duren has right now. Howard never averaged more than 61 percent from the field, while Duren is shooting 67.5 percent currently and shot 69 percent last season.
The game is different now, and centers aren’t posting up as much, so you could argue that Howard may have had a similar offensive trajectory if he played in the modern game, but as it stands, Duren already has a far more dynamic offensive game.
I’m sure Duren would be satisfied with the comparison, as Howard was one of the best centers of his day, but aside from their physical dominance, the two really aren’t the same at all, as Howard was a defensive specialist while Duren’s offensive game has more nuance.