Jalen Duren wasn’t good in the playoffs and has heard about it non-stop since, with hyperbolic words like “disaster” being thrown around and impatient fans with short memories already trying to trade him.
It’s wild how quickly perceptions can change in the NBA, as Duren’s All-Star season was a revelation right up until the playoffs, which immediately made people forget that he’s a 22-year-old All-NBA center.
Chet Holmgren is getting some of the same after last night’s game seven flop, with equally impatient and delusional Thunder fans wondering if they should trade their All-NBA center after a bad playoff series against the best player in the world.
The opinions around Duren will continue to swirl this summer as he negotiates a new contract with the Pistons or someone else, but my guess is that the Holmgren talk will die down as soon as it becomes clear they aren’t trading him.
Holmgren won’t get the same treatment as Duren, and there are reasons (not that, but probably some of that) JD will get more scrutiny.
Chet Holmgren has already proven himself and had one bad series
Holmgren is already an NBA champion, so the Thunder don’t need to guess whether they can win a title with him.
Holmgren was also good in last year’s playoff run, as well as most of this one, and really only had one bad series. Holmgren still averaged 15 points, eight rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in the playoffs this season, numbers the Pistons would have gleefully taken from Duren.
Duren was also bad in the playoffs last year, so has yet to show he can assert himself in the postseason. He’s still a couple of years younger than Holmgren, so has plenty of time to get there, but he’s yet to step up in the playoffs.
Holmgren was going up against Wembanyama
Jalen Duren got dominated by Wendell Carter Jr. in the first-round win against Orlando and then backed it up by getting hammered by Jarrett Allen in the next round. While both these guys are capable bigs and rim protectors, Holmgren just got beaten by the best center in the world.
Not many guys are going to go off against Wemby, and if Duren had played well in the playoffs only to get beaten by the alien Frenchman, I doubt anyone would have much to say about his performance.
Of course, Holmgren is also a goofy white boy, which I am sure will factor into the perception one way or another.
Both young centers are going to take their lumps this offseason, but Duren still has so much more to prove and is on the cusp of a lucrative new deal, so he’s going to be under the microscope in ways that Holmgren won’t be.
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