Pistons fans and national media members alike are excited for the growth of the young team. Cade Cunningham has already crossed the breakout threshold and seems bound to be a superstar in the league, but the rest of the core has plenty of room to grow. One of the forgotten members of the core, from a growth perspective, has been Jalen Duren but critics often overlook his extremely young age.
Jalen Duren: Still Full of Potential
I’ve been guilty of viewing Duren as a stagnant player myself but the truth remains that he is incredibly young. He was the youngest member of his draft class after reclassifying to skip his original senior year of high school. In fact, he was the first player to play in the NBA who was born after LeBron James’ NBA debut.
Duren has displayed consistent play in his three seasons so far, in a role that usually does not branch out too much. Still, he’s got great fluidity in his handle and shot for a player of his size and still has plenty of time to add small elements of those skills to his game.
Duren’s actually younger than Ausar Thompson, who was drafted a season after him and is widely regarded as a superior prospect. Thompson’s lack of consistent health thus far also contributes to his ceiling being potentially higher, but his later draft year also contributes.
At such a young age, Jalen Duren is still growing physically and in his skills. His body has been NBA-ready from his rookie season, but he’s learning to use his physicality better every year. Last season, he made improvements in his defense in the second half of the season and translated his ferocious rebounding to the playoffs.
The next leap will probably be improving his ability to contest without fouling, which is definitely something he can learn as he gets older. When Isaiah Stewart was his age, he was the starting center of a 17-win team and nowhere near the defender he is now.
Some training clips of Duren over the summer have also shown his potential with the ball in his hands. This included driving to the hoop, making plays for others and even pulling up for midrange jumpers. These are not guaranteed to translate in the NBA, but his potential is sky high considering his young age.
Jalen Duren’s been taken for granted by a lot of Pistons fans and media. The current strengths of his game are likely to stay consistent, but it would be a mistake to assume he can’t improve and grow in other areas too. At not even 22 years of age, his potential is still sky high.