The Detroit Pistons weren’t comfortable giving Jalen Duren the lucrative extension he wanted this offseason and last night showed precisely why.
It’s only one game, so any reaction is instantly classified as an overreaction, but given these are things that have hovered over his whole career, there are reasons to be concerned.
There were two areas last night that have been problems for Duren and not the way he wanted to start a contract season.
Jalen Duren in foul trouble
It looked as if Duren was headed for a monster night, as he started the game with two lobs from Cade Cunningham that led to thunderous dunks.
But he picked up two fouls just as quickly, so had to leave the game, and when he did, the Pistons’ half-court offense wasn’t the same. The gravity created by the Cunningham/Duren lob threat in the pick and roll is the centerpiece of their offensive universe. Isaiah Stewart was great last night, but he just doesn’t draw the same kind of attention.
Duren picked up one early foul on a dribble handoff screen, something the refs were calling differently last night, but it’s on him to adjust to that. He was taken out of the game early and only ended up playing 20 minutes, so he simply has to get better at defending without fouling and stop picking up dumb offensive fouls on screens.
The Pistons still can’t defend stretch fives
It was really frustrating that the Pistons weren’t able to take advantage of Nikola Vucevic defensively (mostly because Duren wasn’t in there) and then allowed him to go off for 28 points and 14 rebounds while hitting four of his six attempts from long range.
This is a problem that dates back several seasons and is one of the main reasons the Pistons felt they needed to see more from Duren before committing to a monster contract. He still struggles in space and on the perimeter, though it was a team effort last night.
Duren had to be pulled off Karl-Anthony Towns in the playoffs and wasn’t able to dominate Vucevic, nor stop him from doing whatever he wanted offensively. The NBA game works from the outside in now, not the other way around, so modern bigs have to be able to defend on the perimeter and Duren has struggled in this area.
It’s only one game but these are definitely things the Pistons will be watching as they move gradually towards a decision on Duren’s future. I do believe Duren will have a big breakout season, but it was disappointing to see him start this way and fall into some old habits.