Apr 2, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) runs down the court against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Jalen Duren Gets Proper Co-Sign Ahead of Critical Run With Pistons

Originally posted on Detroit Pistons on SI
By Justin Grasso | Last updated Oct 17, 2025 2:37 PM ET

The veteran center will play out the final year of his rookie-scale contract. There is still time left for the Pistons to offer an extension to the veteran center, but there haven’t been any terms agreed to at this time. If Duren and the Detroit Pistons can’t get it done before the 2025-2026 season tips off, then free agency is likely in the cards for the big man.

It’s unclear where Trajan Langdon’s head is at as far as Duren’s extension talks go. But if in the event he’s having any doubts, Cunningham’s recent co-sign of Duren’s game should help Langdon see the situation from a logical lens.

David Richard-Imagn Images

Keeping the franchise star happy is key for the Pistons. If Cunningham is comfortable with Duren’s fit, then his opinion has to be taken into account. After their preseason slate, which included just one matchup played together, Cunningham remains very comfortable with Duren on the floor with him.

“I think our games just complement each other very well,” Cunningham said of Duren. “We’re just learning the NBA more and more each year. We’re learning the game, we’re getting better. I think we're getting better individually and coming together, and things look better as well.

Throughout his career, Duren has played in 121 games with Cunningham, With the two standouts finding luck in the health department last season, a lot of their action came during the 2024-2025 season. The results? The Pistons made a playoff run for the first time in years. Duren and Cunningham were a huge part of that.

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Duren entered the league one year after Cunningham. With the 2022 13th overall pick, the Charlotte Hornets selected Duren before sending his draft rights to the New York Knicks. They re-routed Duren to Detroit, where he played in 67 games as a rookie.

In total, Duren has appeared in 206 games for the Pistons. Since his second season, he’s a full-time starter, seeing the court for nearly 30 minutes per game. Last year, Duren got off to a slow start, but he picked it up a couple of months in, and put together a solid run.

By the end of the regular season, Duren finished the year with averages of 11.8 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists. At this stage of his career, that’s about the averages of his career.

Duren seems to be still facing a lot of question marks moving forward. Will he remain with the Pistons long-term? That’s a major question in Detroit. Cunningham’s influence should be a difference-maker, but at the end of the day, Duren still has to bring it on the court every night to convince Langdon and JB Bickerstaff that he’s the long-term answer at the starting center position.

This article first appeared on Detroit Pistons on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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