It was a long road for Jalen Duren to finally secure the $200 million deal that he wanted this offseason, but the dust is finally settling. Duren still has a long way to go before proving himself worthy of that deal, and the first step will be staying on the floor longer. Last season, despite his All-Star and All-NBA selections, Duren only averaged 28.2 minutes per game; Detroit needs to see that number go up this season.
Duren didn't get paid all that money to sit on the bench
Over the last few seasons, Duren has never eclipsed 29.1 minutes per game. It's extremely difficult, nearly impossible, to have an impact worth $40 million per season with that level of playing time. But the Pistons had their reasons for only playing Duren that amount.
For one, they also had Isaiah Stewart on the roster to eat up some center minutes. Stewart was one of the best backup bigs in the league over the last two seasons. However, Stewart is gone now and the Pistons' latest offseason additions can't fill in his role for major minutes at center. Detroit has wittled down its depth at the position and is fully dependent on Duren to be reliable for more playing time.
Beyond Stewart's presence, Duren has also gotten into trouble with his fouling and sometimes questionable conditioning. The conditioning was brought into question this offseason when the Pistons floated the idea of a weight clause in his contract. Reports indicate that idea was ultimately retracted but the message is still clear from the front office: Duren needs to be available for more minutes and remain agile when he's on the court.
There's nobody to cover up for Duren anymore
Stewart was often a safety blanket for Duren, who could come in with a very different but effective skillset. The Pistons can't afford that safety blanket now that Duren has gotten paid, and he'll be the one most affected. If the Pistons can't rely on Duren to hold it down in the middle for at least 31+ minutes per game, he will wind up as just another overpaid decent player.
The Pistons do still have another solid backup center in Paul Reed, but Reed has never played the sort of extended minutes as Duren or Stewart in Detroit. He's been excellent in shorter bursts, but probably lacks the size to be getting major run as the team's center for more than 20 minutes per game.
Only Jalen Duren can currently solve the Pistons' shallower center rotation. Detroit can still get the same amount of quality center minutes per game if he's able to step up and play more minutes while still looking like an All-Star.
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