Jalen Duren’s rookie season exceeded all reasonable expectations, earning him an invitation to USA Basketball’s summer session last year as part of the Select Team where he created nearly as much buzz as teammate Cade Cunningham. Then he played like an All-Star as the Pistons jumped to a 2-1 start to their 2023-24 season.
The rest of Duren’s season was marred by ankle injuries and clouded by the inconceivable onslaught of misfortune that defined the year for the Pistons.
But a reality check is in order. Duren remained one of the NBA’s youngest players in his second season after spending his rookie season as its absolute youngest. He won’t turn 21 until a month into his third season. The player who dazzled as a dunking, rebounding, shot-blocking menace in the season’s first week is still within Duren, waiting to emerge.
Here’s a look at Duren’s past, present and future:
PROFILE: 6-foot-10 center, 20 years old, 2 NBA seasons
2023-24 STATS: 13.8 points, 11.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists in 29 minutes a game
STATUS: Duren is entering year three of his four-year rookie scale contract as the No. 13 pick of the 2022 draft
DID YOU KNOW?: After his sophomore year of high school at Roman Catholic in Philadelphia – it ended before the state semifinals when the COVID-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the season – Duren transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida, where Cade Cunningham had just departed for his freshman season at Oklahoma State. It would be Duren’s only year at Montverde because prior to what would have been his senior season, Duren reclassified to the high school class of 2021 and announced his intention to play at the University of Memphis.
A LOOK BACK: Duren put himself on the national radar very early, which is what happens when you’re already the size of an NBA power forward before entering high school. Duren hit 6-foot-8 by the time he was an eighth-grader. As a high school freshman at Roman Catholic, Duren helped his team to the Catholic League title and was named second team all-state. He had overtaken Michigan prep standout Emoni Bates as the No. 1 player in his recruiting class by the time he made the decision to reclassify in order to make himself eligible for the 2022 NBA draft. Duren averaged 12.0 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks a game as a Memphis freshman and declared for the 2022 draft. The Pistons, after taking Jaden Ivey with their own pick at No. 5, maneuvered to get back into the first round by agreeing to a three-team trade that saw them take on Kemba Walker’s contract from the New York Knicks. He played 1,670 minutes as an NBA rookie in 67 games when he averaged 9.1 points and 8.9 rebounds and was named to the All-Rookie second team.
THE SEASON THAT WAS: Duren entered year two firmly established as the Pistons starting center and he got off to a phenomenal start. Through three games with the Pistons 2-1 and a Cade Cunningham buzzer triple that rimmed out in the opener at Miami from being 3-0, Duren averaged 18.0 points, 15.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.7 blocks while shooting 75 percent. Then, in the season’s fourth game, Duren suffered a sprained right ankle and saw his explosiveness and mobility limited for an extended period. Duren missed one game, played the next two, missed another and played two more before re-injuring the ankle in a Nov. 10 loss to Philadelphia. He sat the next five games, then returned on Nov. 24. Duren recorded double-doubles in five of the next six games before suffering a sprained left ankle in a Dec. 6 loss to Memphis that cost him the next eight games. Duren played in 24 consecutive games upon his return. Over the course of those games, Duren began to spread his wings some with the ball in his hands with many encouraging signs and some predictable hiccups for a 20-year-old delving into new territory. Thirteen times in a 27-game stretch that began on Feb. 7 Duren committed at least three turnovers. Duren displays a good shooting touch as evidenced by improving his free-throw percentage from 61.1 percent as a rookie to 79.0 percent in year two.
A LOOK AHEAD: Duren has every physical tool to be an All-Defense contender for the next dozen years given his strength, quickness, explosiveness, wingspan and agility. The impact hasn’t shown up consistently as a rim protector yet, but it’s rash to think it won’t blossom once Duren – still one of the youngest players in the league, not turning 21 until late November – racks up more repetitions. His high school career was shortened by one season with his decision to reclassify and he spent a single season in college and then was thrust into a starting role in the NBA at a position that requires a massive amount of processing on every possession. He’s doing it almost entirely on raw physical tools in the moment and while playing a pivotal position next to teammates barely more experienced.
MONEY QUOTE: “This hasn’t been the two years that anybody would have expected or wanted, but I really do truly believe God gives his toughest battles to the strongest soldiers. We went through a lot of adversity. The city’s seen it, the team felt it, but we’re a young team that’s hungry. I know you hear that a lot. You hear how hard we work and how much we’re committed, but we really are. We want to get better. We can grow as a team. We want to win, but it takes time and it takes camaraderie. We’re building that and I think we’re moving in the right direction.” – Jalen Duren on the season that was and the future of the Pistons