Jalen Duren Is Proving That He Deserves A Big Payday This Summer

After a draft day trade with the New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets, the Detroit Pistons selected Jalen Duren with the 13th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. By that math, this is Duren’s fourth season in the NBA. So, he should technically already have his next contract lined up.

However, Duren and the Pistons did not negotiate a rookie extension this past offseason, with the latter opting to take the wait-and-see approach before officially committing to Duren as their center of the future.

To be fair to them, Duren’s first three seasons were a mixed bag. Yes, his lone postseason appearance yielded some positive results (Duren averaged a double-double on 70.8% true shooting), but he also had yet to prove that he could be a strong defensive anchor for a full season.

None of that matters now, though, as Duren has started the 2025-26 season looking like the exact type of player the Pistons need to keep around long-term.

Being A Star In Your Role

In today’s NBA, there are generally three types of center archetypes that are good enough to build your team around. There is the rim-protecting floor spacer (Chet Holmgren, Kristaps Porzingis, Myles Turner, etc.), the offensive genius with vertical limitations (Nikola Jokic, Alperen Sengun, Domantas Sabonis, etc.), and the rim-running paint guardian (Dereck Lively II, Rudy Gobert, etc.).

With the body of a pro wrestler and the hops of a kangaroo, Duren has always had the outline of a player who could fit that third category. Since entering the league, Duren has always been a capable finisher at the rim. In his first three seasons, Duren shot over 68% at the rim (which was good for 80th percentile or higher in each season). And this year, he looks even sharper. With his partner-in-crime Cade Cunningham, Duren is part of one of the most lethal pick-and-roll combinations in basketball (19 of Cunningham’s 76 assists have been to Duren thus far, per NBA.com).

Duren’s ability to operate as a screener and lob finisher has never been in question. What has set him back to this point in his career is his inconsistency on the defensive side of the ball. The center spot is the most important defensive position. So, unless you’re a Jokic-type offensive player, you need to be a strong positive on that end to be a championship-caliber building block.

Through three seasons, Duren wasn’t always that guy. The Pistons never had an above-average defensive rating in his minutes, and in two of those three years, they were better defensively when he was on the bench (per Cleaning the Glass).

The beautiful thing about Duren is that it was never his size or strength that set him back. In fact, if you were creating the perfect defensive center in the lab, the finished product wouldn’t be that far from Duren’s physical attributes. What set him back in the past was effort and instinct.

Now, in Year Four, his mind and spirit have caught up with his body. The sample is small (eight games), but the Pistons’ defensive rating goes down by 11.4 points per 100 possessions when Duren is on the court (87th percentile). Opponents are also shooting 17.1% worse than expected on shots within six feet when Duren is there to contest.

Duren Has Room To Grow

Did you notice how I didn’t mention Anthony Davis and Victor Wembanyama? Theoretically, they also fall under the same player type we’ve outlined for Duren. The only difference is that they can transcend that archetype with their on-ball scoring/playmaking skills.

Duren has the chance to join this crew and go from being a good starter to someone who contends for All-Star selections (my personal favorite comparison is a more defensively-inclined version of Amar’e Stoudemire). How do I know this? This season, Duren is scoring 24.4 points per 75 possessions (89th percentile). You don’t score that many points by just catching lobs and cleaning up on the offensive glass, even with someone as gifted as Cunningham feeding you opportunities.

Duren has the skill to put the ball on the floor and attack defenders off a couple of dribbles. 44% of his field goals this season have come after taking at least one dribble. He’s also an underrated big man passer. During his press conference after their win over the Utah Jazz, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff referred to Duren as one of the best short roll passers in the association. These attributes, coupled with his age (he still isn’t even 22) and Herculean gifts, give him a higher ceiling than most other players in this archetype.

People once questioned whether Duren was a franchise-caliber center. Now, they will start wondering if he can rise to the level of All-Star. However, what should no longer be in doubt is whether Duren is worthy of a big payday this summer.