Love/hate for 7 key Detroit Pistons and Monty Williams

Jalen Duren 

Love: His improvement in the pick-and-roll and at the free-throw line 

Hate: Nearly everything else 

Jalen Duren is only 20, so it’s hard to read too much into his season, as he has a long way to go and plenty of time to get there. There was definitely some burgeoning chemistry with him and Cade Cunningham in the pick-and-roll, and the two became adept at holding defenses in limbo and waiting for the lob opportunity to develop. 

Duren has also improved mightily at the free-throw line, up to 78.6 percent this season, a great sign for the chances of him eventually developing a jumper. 

But Duren has been a disaster on defense and that is a much larger concern, as the Pistons need a defensive anchor at center, not another Andre Drummond. Duren’s blocks and steals have gone down this year even though his rebounds have gone up. 

Rebounds are the most easily replaced stat, and if Duren is just going to be an elite rebounder who catches lobs, Detroit either needs to look for an upgrade or at least a backup who is a better defender. The concerning thing is that we see Duren with a high motor and effort on offense but not as much on the other side of the ball. 

Duren has only played 59 games this season, another concern for a team with so many injuries, especially if he is going to be core guy moving forward.