Trajan Langdon has made it clear that he still has plenty to evaluate with his young roster, and one of the things he’ll be watching closely is the fit between Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson.
We’ve talked a lot about Jaden Ivey and what he has to do next season to be part of the long-term plans, but the Pistons may have a bigger problem lingering.
I’ve written about the Pistons going with an unorthodox starting five that has two non-shooters in it, and “non-shooters” may be underselling it, as both Duren and Thompson are not even threats to shoot jumpers at this point in their respective careers.
The question is whether this can work.
It was discussed at length on a recent episode of The Game Theory podcast and both hosts had big questions about Duren’s ultimate fit with Thompson and how much Detroit can realistically invest in Duren if the two can’t-co exist.
It’s a question the Pistons will have to answer soon.
Jalen Duren vs. Ausar Thompson: Thinking about the future
It’s certainly not an either/or situation with Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, as they will likely have the money to keep them both if they want. But it’s far more likely the Pistons already see Ausar Thompson as a big part of the long-term future, so he’s going to be the priority if it comes down to it.
That doesn’t mean the Pistons are going to trade Duren, or that they won’t eventually re-sign him, but they do have to think about how these two players work both in terms of on the court chemistry and the payroll.
Duren can make this easy by continuing to build on the passing chemistry he flashed with Ausar in the playoffs, improving his overall defense and accepting a deal in the $20 million range. But if all of those things happen, Duren will likely want more, in which case they’ll have a painful decision to make.
But much like with Jaden Ivey, the Pistons may have to play hardball, as there are real questions about the value of their prototypes in the current iteration of the NBA, where teams are increasingly turning to position-less wings and bigs who can shoot and defend the perimeter on switches.
The Pistons have to be careful which core they lock into, and Trajan Langdon is going to have a lot to think about before next season’s trade deadline.