Late Thursday night, star NBA heart Jalen Duren has resignedly agreed to an enormous contract. The Pistons retain their large man as Duren accepts a five-year, $200 million contract. Duren turns into the Eighth-highest-paid heart in n. At Fantasy Sports activities On SI, we do our due diligence to inform fantasy managers what to anticipate in Detroit.
Fantasy Basketball Impression
BREAKING: Restricted free agent heart Jalen Duren has agreed to just accept the five-year, $200M contract from the Detroit Pistons, league sources inform me. a
– Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) 6
The Pistons goal to make one other NBA Finals run in 2026-27. The crew was extensively hailed as an Japanese Convention favourite this previous season, solely to fall quick to the Cleveland Cavaliers within the second spherical of the playoffs.
The failures had been largely Duren's fault, who did not play elite basketball when it mattered most. Duren averaged 10.2 factors per recreation within the 2025-26 playoffs, 9.3 factors lower than his regular-season common. He additionally turned the ball over 2.3 occasions per recreation within the playoffs, up from 1.9 per recreation within the common season.
Nonetheless, Duren is anticipated to return to good basketball this upcoming season. He has proven a ability set that deserves the contract. Just a few weeks within the vivid lights must be one thing Duren grows from, not folds from.
) measures what number of factors per 100 possessions an NBA participant contributes to his crew's offense. I’ll use this statistic to measure one of the best offensive starters on the 2026-27 Pistons.
OEPM relies on 2025-26.
- +2.7: Cade Cunningham
- +1.9: Jalen Duren
- +1.0: Duncan Robinson
All different listed starters are at damaging OEPM scores. Paul Reed, the backup heart, has a +1.2 score, however that shouldn't have an effect on the taking part in time of the newly $200 million man.
How about DEPM? The metric is similar because the above, however for defensive effectivity.
Now, let's have a look at 2025-26 utilization. Contemplating each objects, we will estimate fantasy upside for the upcoming season.
- +3.6: Ausar Thomspon
- +1.0: Duncan Robinson
- +0.9: Cade Cunningham
- +0.1: Jalen Duren
Regardless of Duren's robust rebounding, he actually just isn’t an X-factor defensively. That’s not the place his worth lies. Quite, Duren is a beast on offense. He may also depend on utilization, .
- 29.2%: Cade Cunningham
- 28.4%: Jalen Duren
- 24.8%: John Collins*
*On the Clippers in 2025-26
Ausar Thompson was at 19.1%, thus flashing his defensive ability set and sitting on the bench offensively.
The above information proves that Duren wants utilization to be environment friendly. Nevertheless, the Pistons roster gives simply that. Cunningham leads the backcourt, Duren leads the frontcourt, Collins is secondary to Duren, Thompson performs protection, and Robinson provides elite protection to his perimeter abilities and high-leverage capturing.
General, Duren can count on to be a top-7 heart in fantasy basketball, as soon as once more. That’s, the Pistons are once more among the many top-3 favorites to win the Japanese Convention.
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