Jalen Duren’s newest deal came with a number attached that demands attention: four years, $200 million. And after the Pistons locked him in on the eve of the deadline, the 22-year-old big man is already talking about a fresh layer to his game.
Duren said Friday that he’s spent the offseason working heavily on his three-point shot, and he made it clear he expects that work to show up in 2026-27.
“Hell yeah, I mean, it's time,” Duren said. “Just putting in the work, bro.
Getting up shots all summer, working on my gam all summer, trying to become a better player. I know the coaching staff believes in me.”
That’s a noteworthy message from a player whose value has always been built elsewhere. Duren’s career has been defined by what he does around the rim and on the glass, and his best season in 2025-26 reflected that growth. He averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game and earned a spot on the All-NBA third team.
Then came the postseason, where things went the other way. His numbers dropped sharply as Detroit bowed out in the second round, a stretch that seemed to dim some of the shine from his regular season.
Still, the Pistons clearly saw enough to bet big on him. And now, with the extension in place, Duren is talking about adding a wrinkle that would change how defenses have to treat him.
He said he plans to take more threes than ever before this season. That would be a major shift for a player who has never made a three-pointer in his NBA career. Across 276 games, Duren has attempted just six triples, and all of them came in his first two seasons.
Even from farther out, jumpers have been rare. Duren has taken only 305 jump shots in his career, which comes out to about 1.1 per game. Last season, though, he did knock down 10 of 20 shots from 16 feet to the three-point arc, according to Basketball Reference.
For now, the foundation of his value remains the same: defense, rebounding, physicality. But if the shot does start to follow, even in small doses, it could give J.B. Bickerstaff’s team a different kind of weapon.
And from the sound of it, Duren is committed to finding out.
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Did The Pistons Give Up On Marcus Sasser Too Soon
Marcus Sassers move out of Detroit didnt come as a shock to anyone who had tracked his uneven fit with the Pistons. He flashed real shooting ability when he got on the floor, but the bigger question in Detroit was always whether he could handle enough on the ball and survive defensively to earn steady minutes.
Now with the Dallas Mavericks, the path looks different, though not necessarily clearer. His role could swing based on Kyrie Irvings status and how Dallas sorts out its backcourt rotation around guards like Cooper Flagg and Sergio da Larrea, which leaves Sasser in the familiar spot of trying to turn a promising skill into something coaches trust every night. [Read more 🡒]