Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren was selected to the All-NBA Third Team after averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during the regular season
Over the past seven months, Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren has ascended from a regular starter on an Eastern Conference playoff squad to the bona fide secondary scoring threat for the No. 1 team in the East. It is impossible to ignore how Duren’s performance faltered in the playoffs, but he was an integral piece to a Pistons squad that held the top position in their conference from November onward.
In the regular season, Duren elevated his game to nearly 20 points and 11 rebounds per night, numbers which would be acceptable for any dominant big man across the NBA. JD has always been a trusty lob threat for Cade Cunningham (with an absurdly efficient conversion rate to show for it), but the Detroit center operated with a substantially larger repertoire with isolation moves and ball handling skills to boot.
As a result of Duren’s impact in the paint for the Pistons, the fourth-year Memphis product was selected to his first All-Star team at the mid-year break, and there began to be whispers about whether JD could walk away with the Most Improved Player award for his on-court strides. Nickeil Alexander-Walker of the Atlanta Hawks ultimately secured that award, but JD finished in second place and helped boost his All-NBA odds in the process.
Last night, Duren finally received word that he was selected to the All-NBA Third Team as a product of his hard work and consistent production through the regular season. Of course, Cunningham received All-NBA honors as well with a First Team distinction to his credit, which means that the dynamic duo are the first pair of Detroit Pistons to land on the All-NBA squads since Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups in 2006.
Now, Duren’s selection to the All-NBA Third team comes at an intriguing time considering the big man is about to enter restricted free agency as soon as the Pistons extend a qualifying offer. At that point, Duren would be free to pursue another deal on the open market, but the Pistons would have the right to match whichever contract he signs.
Naturally, the Pistons have an opportunity to offer Duren more than any other franchise because he’s spent his first four years in the Motor City, and JD just boosted the ceiling for his upcoming payday by making the All-NBA squad. With that caveat in his back pocket, Duren could sign a five-year max deal with the Pistons that would be worth roughly $287.1 million (or 30% of the cap)) according to Keith Smith of Spotrac. Prior to making the Third Team, JD’s earning potential from the Pistons was capped at $239.3 million spread across five years based on league rules.
Part of Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon’s job this offseason is to figure out the cost of keeping Duren in Motown and evaluating whether that’s a prudent move considering the now-elevated cost, but it seems that he has already come to terms with that reality. During Langdon’s end of season press conference, the man pulling the strings for Detroit’s roster mentioned that he looks forward to getting a deal done with Duren’s representation, so the question at that point shifts to the eventual price tag.
However, keeping an All-NBA level homegrown big man away from other suitors was never set up to be an inexpensive game, so Langdon has put the Pistons in a position to operate with some degree of flexibility this offseason. Both Tobias Harris and Kevin Huerter are entering unrestricted free agency, so the team’s acting general manager has some wiggle room to work this summer.
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