4 Hot takes about the upcoming Detroit Pistons season

3. Jalen Duren will have a defensive rating of 114 or better

Jalen Duren and his defensive struggles have been just as hindering to this team as Jaden Ivey and his outside shooting. Duren showed promise in the first few games of last year, but then he went down with an ankle injury, and subsequently Dan Burke, the Pistons defensive-minded assistant coach, had to step away from Detroit. When Duren returned, his defense never came with him.

There were always concerns that he was still laboring from his injury and that was hurting him, but that should be no excuse this season. Behind Bickerstaff and his defensive ideologies, plus the hiring of big man developmental assistant coach Vitaly Potapenko, Duren’s defense needs to take a step up.

To be clear, I’m not predicting that Duren will win Defensive Player of the Year. A defensive rating of 114 is exactly average in the NBA. Rudy Gobert leads the defensive rating for centers with 104.4. Jokic, Nurkic, Bam and KAT follow him in the 108’s, and Brook Lopez and Nikola Vucevic fall right around where I predict Duren to be at 114.  

Duren's ability is there on the defensive end. He just needs to improve his feel, instincts and effort. This hot take will directly correlate to Detroit’s success this year.