Jalen

Duren

Jalen Duren’s hamstring injury wouldn’t affect Collins’ place in the Pistons’ starting lineup. However, the All-Star center’s absence meant Collins would sometimes be the biggest Piston on the floor. Philadelphia didn’t have Joel Embiid on Sunday, which made the paint a bit more manageable for Detroit. But that shouldn’t take away from Collins’ double-double and blocked shots. Collins is already rostered in 80 percent of Yahoo leagues, and the Duren injury raises his fantasy ceiling.

Duren was injured in the second quarter of Friday’s win over the Heat and did not return to the game. With the Pistons’ starting center sidelined for at least two weeks, now is the time to add Paul Reed if he’s sitting on the waiver wire. In 26 minutes on Friday, Reed tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, who visit the 76ers on Sunday.

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.

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.

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.

Duren is still embroiled in contract negotiations after turning down a $200 million deal from Detroit, and he could be headed toward signing a $9.6 million qualifying offer. The deadline to sign the qualifying offer is Thursday, and if Duren pursues that option, he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Sacramento has been linked to Duren as a team that would potentially pay him what he wants, but he could entertain offers from other suitors. John Collins is an interesting later-round flier in standard leagues, and Paul Reed makes a fine pick in deeper leagues.

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.