The Detroit Pistons have firmly established themselves as one of the best teams in the NBA. They’ve secured a Playoff spot already behind an incredible season from Cade Cunningham. Now, the 51-19 franchise has to deal with finishing the regular season without their star guard.
Cunningham’s recent collapsed lung means he might not be able to qualify for an All-NBA First Team selection, prompting debate on which star will replace him. However, that also means that another All-NBA spot in general will be up for grabs. Without Cunningham, Pistons center Jalen Duren might get the opportunity to earn an All-NBA selection after averaging 19.2 points and 10.5 rebounds on 64.2 FG% this season.
If Duren makes the All-NBA team, he’ll officially be eligible for a five-year, $288 million rookie supermax extension as a result of his All-NBA status.
“Colin Maher of CBAguide.com and Spotrac contributor Keith Smith tell Front Office Sports a max extension at 30% of the cap is projected to be worth around $288.8 million over five years. If Duren misses the All-NBA team, he’d be eligible for a max deal worth $240.7 million over five years, a $48.1 million difference.”
Given the qualifying status of multiple stars in contention for All-NBA is still uncertain, it’s hard to plot out what all three All-NBA teams look like right now. Each team has between 12 and 15 games left this season, so all these stars will have to ensure they meet the qualifying limit.
Some examples of All-NBA players alongside Cunningham who can drop out are Nikola Jokic (two missed games left), Devin Booker (two missed games left), Evan Mobley (two missed games left), Victor Wembanyama (three missed games left), Kawhi Leonard (three missed games left), Luka Doncic (six missed games left), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (seven missed games left), and Anthony Edwards (seven missed games left).
Potential All-NBA players who cannot reach the 65-game limit include LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid, Austin Reaves, and Jalen Williams.
Analyzing the remaining potential All-NBA players in the league this season would show Duren does have a decent shot at cracking the All-NBA Third Team. Even if all the aforementioned stars except Cunningham qualified for All-NBA, Duren would likely still have a real shot of making it in.
He’d likely be behind Jokic, SGA, Doncic, Wembanyama, Leonard, Edwards, and potentially even Mobley. In addition, players like Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, and Jalen Brunson will also be names that probably make it to All-NBA before Duren.
Expanding the player pool to include the likes of Jamal Murray and Kevin Durant means that Duren will likely have a strong chance at making the Third Team, even if most bubble players meet their eligibility.
Having no players from the No. 1 seed in the East would be odd if Cunningham doesn’t make it in, so it seems Duren has a strong chance at making his first All-NBA selection at 22 years old.
This isn’t the best news for the Pistons long-term, as Duren’s supermax means an extra $48.1 million to be paid to the center over the course of his next contract. With Cunningham also on a max contract, the team would be locked into this duo and have limited financial flexibility in the second-apron era to fill out their roster.
Eventual extensions for players like Ausar Thompson will add an extra burden, but at least the Pistons can claim to have two homegrown All-NBA stars shepherding the franchise into the future.
