Detroit Pistons: Jalen Duren Makes His Preseason Debut Tonight

With the NBA’s regular season starting next week, the Detroit Pistons are running out of time to deploy Jalen Duren in the preseason before their opener against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, Oct. 20. 

Now, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff confirmed that he “definitely” expects Duren to feature in the exhibition stage during training camp, but he did not go as far as mentioning when that return would come. So, Detroit has opted to start Paul Reed in both preseason games up to this point, but conventional wisdom dictates that JD’s debut will come tonight against the Minnesota Timberwolves with the All-Star finally back in the starting lineup. 

Without Duren, the Pistons have produced a pair of tight contests so far with a last-second victory against the Phoenix Suns and an overtime loss to the Washington Wizards within the last two weeks, but the team hasn’t been at full strength for any portion of training camp. In fact, Cade Cunningham sat out the Pistons’ most recent contest last Saturday, but that was just to give the All-NBA point guard some extra rest before the long, arduous 2026-27 campaign kicks off. 

In the meantime, Duren has been a regular participant at Pistons practices over the past week-plus after signing his new five-year, $200 million deal, though his opportunities to work with the time have been brief. But despite that effective time crunch during training camp, Duren has worked in on-court drills with new Detroit power forward John Collins, and the dynamic big man duo have built some exciting chemistry already. 

Bickerstaff spoke optimistically about the idea of using that two-man frontcourt pairing throughout the upcoming season, but the organization needs to break through their cautious approach to Duren’s return before that can happen. 

“He’s been good,” Bickerstaff said of Duren. “He’s working his way back. The timing of everything, we’re just being cautious and making sure we don’t put him in a compromising position, but he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. He’s been able to pass all the tests that have been kind of in front of him, so he’s doing a great job of that. He’s working his tail off because he wants to be ready and he wants to be right. So, we’re looking forward to him being ready for us.”

Last season, Duren posted 20 points and 10 rebounds on a nearly nightly basis, so the All-Star big man is an even bigger part of the Pistons’ plan this year, and they’ve even toyed with the idea of increasing his usage from the elbow. In the past, Duren has served as a playmaking hub after catching his entry pass, and that’s a play-type that Detroit feels could be valuable as defense adjust their approach to the Pistons, especially with so many more shooters scattered across the lineup. 

On top of that stylistic change, the Pistons have experimented with using Ausar Thompson as a point forward and on-ball creator during the preseason, but that wrinkle has produced mixed results through to games. Either way, Detroit is looking to leap back ahead of .500 tonight with an 8 pm tip-off on the road against the Timberwolves.