Jalen Duren may be in the middle of a contract standoff with the Pistons, but the bigger reality in Detroit is hard to miss: he still sits at the center of what this team wants to become.
The Pistons have not added another All-Star to lighten Cade Cunningham’s load, and that leaves Duren as the clearest source of secondary scoring and creation on the roster. Detroit is banking on him to carry over the All-NBA level he showed last season and bring it with him into the playoffs.
That is a lot to ask, especially for a player the organization still has questions about. The Pistons have concerns about Duren’s long-term ceiling as a second star after his playoff disappearance, but those doubts have not led to any meaningful action. Instead, Detroit has come up short in trade conversations for established stars and remains in much the same position it was a year ago.
Cade has already proven he can carry a huge offensive burden. In the playoffs, he put up 28 points per game without much help around him.
But the Pistons also know the modern league does not bend to one-man shows anymore. If Detroit is going to climb, it needs more than Cunningham.
Right now, Duren is still the best internal answer.
There is also a practical reason the Pistons may have stayed cautious. The uncertainty around Duren’s extension could be affecting other moves, even if that is not the whole story.
Detroit had chances this summer to chase major help if it was willing to part with enough assets, but the front office has not pushed hard enough to land a big swing. Even while negotiating with Duren, the Pistons have continued to act as if the foundation around him and Cade is enough without another star coming in.
That approach could backfire on Duren as much as it helps the team. Asking him to become a true All-Star-level self-creator by next season is a tall order, especially in the playoffs, where defenses can squeeze every weakness. His offensive package is still limited, and that makes the fit even trickier if Detroit keeps pairing him with Ausar Thompson, another young player whose offense is also limited.
The cleaner path, at least from a roster-building standpoint, is obvious. Duren would be better suited as a tertiary star than as the second option behind Cade.
If the Pistons could add one more dangerous scorer or creator, Duren would have more room to do damage against defenses already occupied elsewhere. Opponents would have a harder time keying on his weak spots, and his strengths could play up instead of being exposed.
Detroit has already been in the market for help this summer, but the lack of a breakthrough says something about how aggressive its offers have been. The sooner the Pistons accept that a proven second star is a necessity, the better their playoff outlook becomes.
In Other News...
Pistons Just Made Another Summer Move That Will Split Fans
The Pistons busy offseason took another turn in a sprawling six-team deal that sent Marcus Sasser out of Detroit as part of the same transaction that brought John Collins to the roster. The move also shuffled Caris LeVert to Milwaukee and Isaiah Stewart to Memphis, underscoring how aggressively the Pistons have kept remaking the supporting cast around their young core.
Detroit also came away with a $15 million trade exception, a useful piece of flexibility as the front office keeps working through a summer of roster churn. The Pistons have already added Ebuka Okorie and Ugonna Onyenso in the draft and brought back Kevin Huerter and Javonte Green, so the larger question now is how many more changes are coming before the group settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Just Made Their Next Offseason Priority Impossible To Miss
The Pistons kept reshaping the roster by sending Caris LeVert and two second-round picks to Milwaukee for Taurean Prince and Gary Harris, a move that does more than just swap out veteran wings. It also gives Detroit a little more breathing room as the front office continues to sort through a busy offseason that already included bringing in Isaiah Joe and signing John Collins.
For a team still trying to balance present-day competitiveness with long-term flexibility, that matters. The latest deal adds to the sense that Detroit is lining up its books for something bigger, and the next step may say even more about how aggressively the Pistons want to keep building around their young core. [Read more 🡒]
Pistons Suddenly Have A Real Shot At A Cade Cunningham Co-Star
The Pistons have been keeping an eye on Brandon Ingram ever since his name surfaced in the wake of the Kawhi Leonard trade talks with the Clippers, and the fit is easy to understand. Detroit still needs more offensive punch around Cade Cunningham, and adding a proven scorer would give the roster a very different look as it tries to move from promising to dangerous in the East.
Jalen Durens restricted free agency is still part of the equation, though, which makes the timing tricky for Detroit as it weighs bigger moves. Even so, the possibility of Ingram being available in a broader deal has created a real opening for the Pistons, and it is the kind of situation that can shift quickly if the right team decides to get aggressive. [Read more 🡒]