Jalen Duren won’t report to media day or camp

Duren exited early from Friday’s win over the Heat, and that injury will keep him out against Philadelphia. Paul Reed should get the starting nod in his place after contributing 19 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes against Miami. He should be considered high-priority streaming option until Duren returns.

Thompson appeared to roll his ankle while Duren grabbed his leg and headed to the locker room midway through the second quarter. While there was no update from Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff after the game, the team said Duren was questionable to return with a thigh injury. It’s unclear if either player will be available for Sunday’s game against the 76ers, though more information about Thompson and Duren’s status should be available Saturday.

Collins had a quiet debut with six points in the win over the Celtics on Tuesday, but he was excellent in the win over the Heat on Friday. The 29-year-old power forward was 9-of-15 from the field, including 5-of-6 from behind the three-point line. Jalen Duren (thigh) left with an injury in the second quarter and didn’t return, which likely led to more opportunities for Collins. With Duren’s status still up in the air, Collins could be in line for more usage again on Sunday against the 76ers.

Duren appeared to tweak something midway through the second quarter of Friday’s game against the Heat. It’s unclear if he injured his knee or hamstring and also the severity of the injury isn’t known at this time. Duren had four points and six rebounds. We’ll update his status when more information becomes available.

Suiting up for the Pistons for the first time, Collins wasn’t able to contribute much for fantasy managers. He should continue to start, and he did spend some time at center, which is encouraging for his value. He should be more productive moving forward than he was in his 25 minutes in this game.

Following a drama-filled offseason, Duren finally got a new contract and immediately had a monster preseason game and a monster regular season debut. He matched Cade Cunningham as the leading scorer for Detroit and fell one rebound shy of recording a double-double. Duren was drafted at the end of the third round and should be able to return that level of value. It’s clear that whatever issues there may have been during contract negotiations won’t impact his play on the floor.

Jalen Duren’s first game since getting his new contract was a loud one. He was aggressive in scoring the ball and looked like he was in regular season form. With Tobias Harris leaving, Jalen Duren will need to be a more consistent scorer this season if the Pistons are going to win as much as they want to.

The standoff between Duren and the Pistons has finally ended, with the 6-foot-10 center receiving a fully guaranteed deal worth $40 million per year. Although Duren had the best regular season of his career to date and earned All-NBA honors, his postseason struggles factored into Detroit needing seven games to eliminate Orlando before falling to Cleveland in the second round. Thursday’s agreement comes less than two hours before the deadline for Duren to accept the one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer that would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. With his immediate future in Detroit now secure, Duren offers third-round potential in standard fantasy leagues. The question is whether this saga will affect his performance, especially early in the season.

The average annual value of the reported offer exceeds the deal the Pistons reportedly offered Duren earlier this summer, which came to $35 million annually. According to the report, the restricted free agent is seriously considering signing his qualifying offer for the 2026-27 season, worth $9.6 million. That route would let Duren enter unrestricted free agency next summer, but it comes with considerable risk. Of course, there’s the injury factor, but it also opens the door for the Pistons to trade Duren to avoid losing him in free agency for nothing. Duren has until October 1 to sign the qualifying offer; waiting until then means he would miss the first week of training camp.

Reed’s contract of $5.6 million for this upcoming season wasn’t guaranteed previously, but now he is locked in well before the deadline. This, as well as trading Isaiah Stewart, shows the Pistons value Reed and plan to utilize him in a big way next season. However, they still have to sign Jalen Duren to solidify their center rotation.