Pistons' biggest disappointment early in 2024-25 season

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The Detroit Pistons have clearly had enough of dwelling in the league’s basement, setting out to be more competitive on a regular basis heading into the 2024-25 season. This was seen in their hiring of JB Bickerstaff as the team’s new head coach, owing to his work in helping turn the Cleveland Cavaliers around, and with the Pistons’ burgeoning young core and a few veteran additions, it was only going to be a matter of time before they returned to relevancy.

And return to relevancy, indeed the Pistons have. They already have nine wins heading into the month of December, and they just need to win six more games just to surpass last season’s win total. Cade Cunningham has elevated his game, and so has Jaden Ivey, while the additions of Malik Beasley and Tobias Harris have elevated the team’s floor on a game-to-game basis.

But even with the Pistons now on an upward trajectory in the sixth year of their rebuild, one of their prized youngsters stands out as someone who may not be a long-term fixture on the roster. He has gone through some growing pains to start the 2024-25 season, and Bickerstaff has given this player a short leash as he works out the kinks in his game.

With that said, here is why Jalen Duren is the Pistons’ biggest disappointment early in the 2024-25 campaign.

Is Jalen Duren the Pistons’ long-term answer at center?

Questioning whether or not Jalen Duren is the Pistons’ long-term answer at center may be unfair. He is only 21 years old and in his third season in the NBA, so it’s not like he doesn’t have a ton of room to improve. He is younger than some of this year’s rookies and yet he is already playing a huge role for a Pistons team that’s looking to crash the postseason party in the mediocre Eastern Conference.

But Duren is not progressing as quickly as many fans believe he could given his physical tools and athletic gifts. And it’s clear in the way the Pistons have handled his workload and role on the team that there is a lot that he has to learn in anchoring a team’s defense.

There is no doubting Duren’s athleticism, but he has yet to put those tools of his to good use on defense. Perhaps it’s due to a lack of effort, a lack of motor, or simply an overall level of disinterest in doing the dirty work. Maybe his ineffectiveness on that end of the floor boils down to the game being too fast for him. But the defensive tape on the Pistons center is pretty damning.

His defensive positioning leaves plenty to be desired. He can perform basic coverages such as drop and blitzing, but he is way too slow in reacting to the play that’s unfolding in front of him. It seems as though Duren feels like he has to overcompensate for his lack of mobility, cheating off his man to gain better paint protection positioning, but instead, he can be exploited in actions along the perimeter — which can be infuriating for a head coach to see in real time.

Duren is so slow in his reactions that opposing teams can simply drag him out to any action along the perimeter and create a good shot, and the stats show how much worse the Pistons are whenever the 21-year-old is on the court. With Duren on the court, the Pistons have a terrible net rating of -6.79, allowing teams to score 117.8 points per 100 possessions. But with Duren riding the pine, Detroit has a solid net rating of +1.99, with their defense improving by leaps and bounds to allow just 110 points per 100 (according to PBP Stats).

A simple eye test and cursory glance at advanced stats show Duren’s negative impact for the Pistons on defense. The team’s center is responsible for anchoring the defense and serving as the last line of defense, and Duren has yet to show throughout his career that is close to figuring that very important part of the game out.

There’s no surprise that JB Bickerstaff has opted to go with Isaiah Stewart at times; Stewart does not have Duren’s size and athleticism, but he can process the game at a much faster level, and he is not afraid to do the dirty work — stepping up as the Pistons’ enforcer as well as their best defensive anchor. This has led to Duren playing just 24.0 minutes a night through his first 20 games — a career-low if it holds.

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