The Los Angeles Lakers’ most recent 116-110 victory against the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday night improved their record to 14-12 as they hold the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.
Early-season MVP candidate and nine-time All-Star center Anthony Davis carried the offensive load once again for the Lakers, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 rebounds against Memphis’ 2023 Defensive Player of the Year winner Jaren Jackson Jr.
Aside from Davis’ offensive masterpiece, Los Angeles came out of this contest with a victory due in large part to their incredible defensive performance. The Lakers held the Grizzlies to just 39.2% shooting from the field and 32.1% shooting accuracy from three-point range.
Scoring victories through their team defensive effort has been a rarity for the Lakers to begin this season, as their No. 26 ranked 115.5 defensive rating has been a consistent detriment to their success.
After witnessing their unusually impressive defensive performance as a unit, the Lakers’ general manager Rob Pelinka may be tempted to contact the Detroit Pistons’ front office in order to bring along some continuity and consistency on the defensive end of the floor.
This would be in the form of a young and upcoming center making massive strides as a rim protector this season, Jalen Duren.
The 21-year-old Duren was the No. 13 overall pick for the Pistons in the 2022 NBA Draft, and he’s since shown plenty of potential to be one of the more impactful frontcourt players in the entire NBA in the near future.
In his third season, Duren’s current averages of 8.9 points and 8.9 rebounds are down from 2023-24, but this is simply due to his focus being shifted to improving defensively this season.
His 1.3 blocks, 110 defensive rating per 100 possessions and 1.3 defensive box plus-minus are all career-bests by a wide margin.
At 6-foot-10 and weighing 250 pounds, Duren’s incredible mix of size, strength and athleticism is surely an attractive combination to plenty of teams around the Association, but Los Angeles could be his main suitor as they’d pair Duren with Davis, the three-time block champion and five-time All-Defensive Team selection.
The acquisition of Duren would provide Los Angeles with their rim deterrent of the future, but one that is also capable of running the floor and finishing explosively at the basket as an efficient scorer boasting a 68.0% field goal percentage this season.
To acquire Duren, Los Angeles would likely need to include young prospects like Max Christie, Jalen Hood-Schifino or Christian Koloko along with veteran frontcourt replacements like Christian Wood and draft compensation.
Detroit could also seek a player to help more in the present like the 28-year-old D’Angelo Russell.
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