OKLAHOMA CITY — Nine games. Seventy-nine minutes. The amount of court time that the Pistons’ franchise ballhandler and big man shared together last season barely eclipsed the length of an episode of “General Hospital.”
A year ago this time, Detroit had hopes of doing what it is presently: establishing an identity, building chemistry among its young core and hoping to turn some heads in the process. The act, though, was as disjointed as it can be. Two of its biggest pieces, Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren, rarely crossed paths. Duren, a rookie at the time, spent the early days of his rookie season coming off the bench, barely averaging 20 minutes per game. In late October, the 6-foot-10 teenager suffered an ankle injury that forced him to miss three games in late October into early November. Shortly after he returned, Cunningham’s season came to an unfortunate conclusion. The 2021 No. 1 pick played his last game of the season on Nov. 9 before he eventually decided to get surgery on his bothersome shin.
The game reps were limited. So was practice time. Detroit’s pick-and-roll duo of the foreseeable future couldn’t be less familiar with one another on a basketball court.
Cade and JD doing what they do🤝#DetroitBasketball pic.twitter.com/fhLDeUsf5k
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) October 28, 2023
So, this July, shortly after Cunningham was cleared to begin full basketball activities, they made it a point to start building on what they and the Pistons hope is a dominant pick-and-roll tandem for the next decade, back in Cunningham’s home state of Texas.
“I invited him down because I was going home,” Cunningham, an Arlington native told The Athletic. “We had talked about it earlier in the summer. It was mutual. We wanted to get together, get some reps in. We didn’t get a lot of time together.”
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The two stayed near one another. They hung out. Shared meals. Most importantly, they went and played pickup basketball every day, all just to try and make up for missed time. Together, they left Texas for Las Vegas, where both participated with Team USA as part of the Select Team and, by all accounts, were two of the most impressive performers during the camp.
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The chemistry the two worked to develop this summer has leaked into the regular season. Detroit is 2-2 and this pick-and-roll partnership is a big reason why the Pistons have a bit of a different feel about them. Per NBA.com, Cunningham averages 2.3 assists per game to Duren, the most of any of his teammates. Duren is shooting 72 percent on assists from Cunningham. The 19-year-old big man is the most frequent recipient of Cunningham’s passes. Conversely, Duren, who is often used as a hub in Detroit’s offense, is averaging an assist per game to Cunningham, the most of any of his teammates. Additionally, 49 percent of Duren’s passes are to Cunningham. The duo is the fulcrum of the Pistons’ offense.
Duren has been one of the best big men in the NBA through the first week, as he averaged 18 points on 80 percent shooting and 15.3 rebounds in the three games prior to Monday’s 124-112 loss to the Thunder. Duren was a nominee for the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Cunningham, too, has been impressive, considering he went nearly a year without playing in an NBA game. The 21-year-old was averaging 22.3 points and 8.3 assists before the team visited Oklahoma City.
They’re a true partnership. One that is still developing, but one that has limitless potential because of how both process the game.
“My thing with Cade, I just wanted to be around him more,” Duren said of his trip to visit Cunningham. “That was, really, like the introduction to me playing with him and us getting acquainted with each other’s game, me learning how to get him open and to his spots. I feel like, honestly, it clicked early because of the IQs. I feel like I have a high IQ for the game and so does he.”
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Most basketball fans hear “spacing” and immediately think about shooting, spreading the floor with perimeter threats. That is a form of spacing, and an important one. However, there’s also vertical spacing, which is what Duren provides for Cunningham. The fear Duren is starting to put on defenses as a roller is starting to show. Defenses are collapsing with more bodies. Cunningham can toss the ball in the air and know that, more often than not, Duren will come down with it while slamming the ball in the rim in the process. If he can’t, it’s opened up space for him to get to his favored mid-range shot.
At the NBA level, playing with a springy big man like Duren is still new to Cunningham. He spent most of his rookie season without a frontcourt leaper. It wasn’t until February of 2022 that Detroit acquired one for Cunningham, when general manager Troy Weaver traded for Marvin Bagley III. It didn’t feel like a coincidence that Cunningham had the best months of his rookie season after being teamed with Bagley. Cunningham had a lob threat, someone to put that type of vertical pressure on defenses.
“Bagley took a lot of that pressure off of us,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham’s points and assists significantly improved once Bagley came into the fold.
“The one thing that we were void of, and that’s on me, is some athleticism in the frontcourt,” Weaver said shortly after the 2022 NBA Trade Deadline.
Weaver doubled-down on an athletic big by maneuvering in the 2022 NBA Draft to land a second lottery pick and getting Duren, who the Pistons had as a top-5 prospect on their big board, per league sources. Duren was looked at as the center of the future at the time of his selection. Signing Bagley to a new deal that summer, acquiring James Wiseman from Golden State later in the 2022-23 season confused many outsiders, but Detroit’s plan was and has always been for Duren to be the focus of its frontcourt.
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So far, in Year 2, Duren has proved Weaver and Co. right. He’s been close to dominant in the pick-and-roll. He’s owned the glass. He’s shown major defensive improvements. The passing flashes he had as a rookie have been popping a little bit more.
The development that Duren has shown across the board has played a key role in the Pistons’ respectable start. No one, though, seems happier about his emergence than Cunningham. He’s got a partner.
“With JD, it was more about us getting our chemistry, figuring out our spots,” Cunningham said. “Me and Bagley, it was pretty seamless. As soon as he came in, we had it. But it takes time to get your chemistry together with a big, in regards to lobs, him getting ready to catch them, things like that. We didn’t have that in practice last season, but it started to come together over the summer.”
(Photo of Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren: Chris Schwegler / NBAE via Getty Images)
