Exclusive: Jalen Duren Talks Pistons, Cunningham, More
Second-year Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren opened up about his time in the NBA so far.
LAS VEGAS — Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren was a key focal point in the USA Select Team’s back-to-back scrimmage victories over Team USA on Friday afternoon inside Mendenhall Center on UNLV’s campus. After a strong outing on Saturday, despite Team USA defeating the USA Select Team three times in scrimmages, Duren sat down with Russo Writes to discuss his time in Detroit, the progress he’s made as a player, and what others have said about both him and the Pistons.
What have your learned in your limited time alongside Cade Cunningham?
Duren: “Honestly, I guess I say his pace and his feel for the game is what I learned in a point guard. Before that, I never really played with him but I’ve always seen him through like high school and through, like, grassroots basketball. So, for me, I think my biggest thing with Cade was just kind of communication and just talking to him and figuring out what he would need from me, and how I can help him on the court, how he can help me on the court. So, all his time injured, just kind of keeping that communication. Just communication throughout the year, especially with him being on the sideline, was huge for us.”
What did the Pistons tell you to work on in the offseason and to take away from this setting?
Duren: “I probably say, just all-around game, honestly. All-around game, conditioning, being in the best shape possible, just being able to affect the game and dominate for long periods of time. That was my biggest thing going through my first offseason in the league was just to come back and be able to play in all 82 and at a high level.”
Yesterday, Anthony Edwards said your ability to make reads and think the game at a high level gets overlooked. Do you think that’s the case?
Duren: “Yeah. For me, I actually like passing the ball. It’s, like, something that I enjoy doing. I like kind of getting a dime and getting an assist. I feel like people are starting to take notice of it because I’ve made some good plays, but I feel like it’s definitely probably something that gets overlooked because of the other aspects of my game. But it’s cool. I don’t really need, like, recognition for it. It’s not going to stop me from doing it. But that’s a part of my game that I do take pride in, just passing the rock.”
Jalen Brunson said he thinks the Pistons are going to start doing big things. What does it mean to hear someone like him say that about what’s being built in Detroit?
Duren: “It just pays a testament to what we’re building over in Detroit. It just shows you how me and Cade came out here and just represented what we’re building and what we got going on back in Detroit. Honestly, I feel like we’re getting our respect now. We got coach Monty Williams in. I feel like a Hall of Fame coach. We got a lot of good pieces, we got a lot of good guys in free agency. We got me and Jaden [Ivey] going into our second year, we just got great rookies in Ausar [Thompson] and Marcus Sasser. So, I feel like day-by-day we’re going keep putting this together and definitely a team that you got to look out for.”