The Detroit Pistons are playing without their newly paid center, Jalen Duren, for at least a little while.
Detroit is on national TV on Tuesday night against the New York Knicks, but the Pistons won't have Duren to help their cause against a strong Knicks frontcourt.
The Pistons were also hoping to have Ausar Thompson cleared to play after a questionable tag — but Thompson is certainly closer to playing than Duren is.
Jalen Duren is out for at least a couple of weeks.
The Pistons announced on Sunday, Oct. 25 that Duren is going to "be re-evaluated in two weeks."
So it's at least two weeks from Sunday, which would be Nov. 8, before Duren will even be considered for a return.
That means that Duren's absence could actually be longer. But don't expect him back at least until the second week of November.
Duren is out with a right hamstring strain, which he injured last week.
Playing against the Miami Heat , Duren grabbed his right hamstring and limped to the locker room.
He didn't return to that game, and now he's out for at least a couple of weeks.
With Duren out, the Pistons have two main directions they can go at center.
Their other natural center is the undersized Paul Reed .
In Duren's first game out, though, the Pistons used John Collins a lot at the 5 instead and still had Reed play a normal center workload off the bench.
Of course, this is just the start of Duren's first season after signing a five-year contract extension worth $200 million with Detroit.
For much of the offseason, it seemed like he might get traded, or at least that his payday would come in at a lower amount than that.
But Duren stood firm and ended up getting $40 million per year in his deal with Detroit — probably fair based on how he played last regular season, but an overpay based on his disappearing act in the playoffs.
Now, though, the Pistons will have to wait and see how Duren performs after an injury absence before his contract outcome can start to come into a little more focus.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post How Long is Jalen Duren Out? Pistons Make Injury Return Timeline Clear appeared first on HEAVY .
