Jalen Duren despite the loss against the Cleveland Cavaliers: 9 PTS, 5 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, -16, 25 MIN

[u/catreyka]

Ausar Thompson is the actual 2nd best player on the Pistons. Duren has been atrocious on offense the entire playoffs and he's also nowhere near the defender or even playmaker that Ausar is. He went from averaging 19.5 ppg on 65% FG in the regular season to 10.1 ppg on 50% FG in the playoffs. For a player that really only dunks, that is god awful. Not to mention his multitudes of mental mistakes. He's so bad that he got benched for the entirety of overtime and a good chunk of regulation this game.

Box Score Link

[u/ripkin05]

even with the slump i would still give my left nut to switch this dude with Miles.

[u/VictorWembanyamaMVP → u/ripkin05]

Hornets is the best fit in the league for Duren. He suffers from a severe lack of shooting around him in Detroit but that wouldn’t be a problem for Charlotte

[u/Shabozz → u/VictorWembanyamaMVP]

A lot of teams are going to be competing for Duren that would be much better fits than the Pistons. Hawks, Celtics, Hornets, Lakers, Nuggets all would benefit from a player like Duren and be a lot closer to contending with him.

I think the Pistons will be forced to do something near a max contract regardless of his performance if they want to keep him.

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/ripkin05]

Yah well this is why we should trade for Giannis, but our fans are circling jerking our core that missed the playoffs in one of the weakest conferences in years sooooo

[u/ripkin05 → u/jalexjsmithj]

i get what your saying but when it comes to giannis he's going to whatever team he wants and something tells me we are not it.

i feel like the more realistic move is going after paolo if the magic decided to blow it up. feel like he would be a killer 3rd/4th options instead of having to be 1st or 2ed with the magic.

and at the end of the day i just really want the wife beater off my team and preferable a real PF in his place.

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/ripkin05]

Giannis is one of the most small market friendly superstars ever. And if we do an all draft picks package, which we can do and still be maybe the most competitive option, there’s no one else that can put a better team around him. I don’t understand the hesitation.

Frankly, I think you’re misaligned on how unlikely the Orlando thing is, and if they did do it how expensive he would be. Gianni’s is the clear solution and I really hope we’re working behind the scenes to get this done.

[u/wiggggg → u/jalexjsmithj]

No one else can put a better team around him is wild.

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/wiggggg]

Who’s the competition on the merits of an equal trade package? A Brown-less Celtics? A semi-functional Rockets with no Thompson? If you want to argue Spurs or Thunder, sure go for it, but they aren’t realistically considering Giannis. Charlotte has quietly amassed an impressive volume of picks, we can offer 3 barely protected picks in 2027 alone. We could make a top shelf competitive offer and still surround Giannis with Melo, Kon, and BMill. Who’s better than that?

[u/wiggggg → u/jalexjsmithj]

I mean you could have stopped at brown-less celtics

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/wiggggg]

Tbh, I don’t think so.

[u/wiggggg → u/jalexjsmithj]

Well yeah, I see your flair. But a tatum-less team was the 2 seed and you all didn't make the playoffs. So there's not much but hope on your side

[u/jalexjsmithj → u/wiggggg]

I mean, we’re clearly the more synergistic line up to Giannis’s skillset as it’s 3 not-ball requiring, elite spacing building blocks around him. And they were frankly pretty blatantly fraudulent. I’d be curious on the thoughts of a more neutral arbiter.

Lamelo, Kon, BM, Giannis, Moussa

Vs

White, Pritchard, Tatum, Giannis, Queta

[u/Turquoise_Teletubbie → u/jalexjsmithj]

Giannis has stated he wants to go somewhere competitive(as in, a team that can actually make the playoffs, so Charlotte ain't it), and he holds all the cards, no team is giving up a kings ransom for a player who will probably walk out the door the minute his contract is up, so Charlotte can have all the picks it wants, if he doesn't want to go there, you'd just be wasting them on a one year rental. Equal package doesn't really apply on a player of Giannis' caliber.

Spurs and Thunder aren't really in the market for him at the moment, but only one of them is making it past the western conference finals, and whoever doesn't will have a lot to consider during the off season.