The Boston Celtics know that if they are serious about getting back into title contention, they must use their assets wisely. What works in their favor is that they are under the cap and have a few trade exceptions to work with, so they can utilize them on players they can buy low on. One player who is emerging as a buy-low candidate is Jalen Duren.
Duren is coming off an All-Star campaign, and it's possible he could make All-NBA, but that achievement might feel like Joe Mazzulla winning Coach of the Year right after the Celtics were humiliated in the first round. TLDR: Duren has been a complete disaster in the playoffs.
Averaging a near-20/10 this season, Duren's numbers have fallen off a cliff in these playoffs, as he's now averaging 10.1 points and 8.3 rebounds. He also went from shooting 65% from the field to 50%. Yikes, yikes, yikes.
He has been so bad that Paul Reed has outplayed him by a significant enough margin to get closing minutes over Duren. At this point, it looks like a pretty common-sense decision. Duren is about to hit restricted free agency this summer, and after how he's fared in the postseason, it's fair to suggest that he's lost a lot of money.
So then why would the Celtics want him?
It's clear that Duren should not be the No. 2 option on a contender, but a No. 3? Part of why Detroit has struggled is because they've really struggled with only having one elite shot creator and distributor in Cade Cunningham. Duren is getting more focus because he is Cunningham's second-in-command, and he's shown that he can't handle that.
In Boston, it would be different. For a team that clearly showed it lacked a playoff-caliber center, Duren would be an upgrade over Neemias Queta, Nikola Vucevic, and Luka Garza. More importantly, the focus would be on Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard.
Duren's job would be to simply gobble up offensive rebounds and be ready for the lob. A rim protector, he is not, but Duren would give the Celtics a better force on the inside, as he would demand more respect.
It bears repeating that he has lost a lot of money from the Pistons' playoff run, which opens the door for them to be okay with him not being part of their future plans. He will be a restricted free agent, which complicates matters, but the Celtics have the assets to make a potential sign-and-trade work.
So not only could Boston have a younger All-Star center, but they could have him on a team-friendly deal. That may not sound too appealing with how embarrassing he's been, but that could make him all the wiser of a pickup in the right system.
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