The Detroit Pistons could be sending a pair of players to the All-Star game this year
Earlier this week, Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham was named as a starter for this year’s NBA All-Star Game. The exhibition contest will be divided into a Team USA vs. Team World format, so Cunningham will not necessarily represent the Eastern Conference in the traditional fashion, though he’s going to be heavily involved in how the game unfolds. But in terms of Detroit representatives, Cunningham might have some company with him at the All-Star game.
This season, Pistons center Jalen Duren has raised his game to another level, and the fourth-year big man is averaging 17.8 points and 10.7 rebounds per game. So as a nightly double-double machine, Duren has worked to round out his game even further, and he’s much improved as a ball handler this year, which has been evident in his pick-and-roll game with Cunningham.
Duren’s ability to elevate his game and in turn help the Pistons to a first place position in the East so far was a recent topic on FanDuel’s Run It Back show with Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons and DeMarcus “Boogie” Cousins. During the segment, Parsons and Cousins took turns serenading Duren with compliments, and the two are clearly big fans of the big man’s handiwork this year.
“To piggyback off of that, you talk about the attributes he has as a player,” Cousins said. “Everything you just mentioned, facts. But the fact that he can play with the ball in his hands, he can create his own offense, he can put the ball on the floor and he can even shoot it a little bit. So, this kid has a lot of potential. He’s not a finished product. His future is really, really bright.”
During the conversation, Parsons called Duren a “junkyard dog” when highlighting the 22-year old’s ability to crash the glass and attack the rim from the pick-and-roll. Duren has become a lethal lob threat with Cunningham running the show, and there’s always a possibility that any given Detroit play will end with a JD alley-oop.
Apart from Duren, the East is relatively shallow in terms of big man depth. Karl-Anthony Towns has run into some recent struggles with the Knicks, while Philadelphia center Joel Embiid is only just now returning from injury, though he’s looked sharp in limited action. Bam Adebayo is another contender from the Eastern Conference’s big man pool, but Duren has had a more consistent and prolific season than any of those options.
The NBA will announce the reserve selections for the All-Star game on Sunday, Feb. 1 at 6 pm, and Duren will continue building his case tomorrow night for an 8 pm tip-off against the New Orleans Pelicans.
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