Jalen Duren doing the Pistons a huge favor

The Detroit Pistons dropped game three to the Magic with a lackluster effort headlined by turnovers, fouls and stupid plays. Detroit hasn’t looked like the team that won 60 games this season outside of one dominant quarter and nowhere is that disappointment more apparent than with Jalen Duren. 

Duren had his third straight dud, and we are getting to the point where I am starting to wonder if there is something wrong with him. Where is the guy who was so aggressive around the rim? Where is the guy dominating the boards and closing out possessions? 

Duren has been soundly outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. in this series, and it’s the main reason the Pistons are in the position they are in. 

There was plenty of blame to go around in game three, but the Pistons can’t win with this version of Duren. It got to the point that he was benched in the 3rd quarter in favor of Paul Reed, who came in and immediately made some things happen. He only played seven minutes and had half as many rebounds as Duren and scored four points. 

We’re past the point where this is an anomaly, and the Pistons are going to have some tough questions this summer. Either way, Jalen Duren is saving them money. 

The Pistons have to think twice about Jalen Duren’s next contract 

I still think Jalen Duren ends up with the Pistons next season and that he’ll get a big raise, but that raise is getting smaller by the day. 

There is no way the Pistons can come close to giving a max deal to a guy who just got benched for Paul Reed in the playoffs. As good as Duren has been this season, these are the games that matter, and he hasn’t shown up. 

Another team may see an opportunity to steal Duren 

Unless something drastically changes over these next few games, or we find out Duren is hurt, the Pistons aren’t going to match a max deal for Duren, which leaves them vulnerable to losing him. 

If you are a team that needs to make a splash, needs a center and has some money to throw around, you could probably talk yourself into Duren on a max deal. The Pistons can match any offer sheet, max or not, but if some other team really wants Duren, they might be able to scare the Pistons away after the way he’s performed. 

You can’t overreact too much to the moment, and I hope Duren turns it around. Even if he doesn’t, I hope he’s back in Detroit next season, as he has a world of talent and is going to get better.  

But he’s playing himself out of money right now, as he doesn’t look like a max guy and has been outplayed by a journeyman and his own backup. 

Duren is going billionaire Tom Gores a favor, as he’s saving him a lot of money this offseason. 

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