NBA Draft 2022: Evaulating key prospects after first month of season

Memphis Tigers

Jalen Duren – Freshman – Memphis – 6’11, 250 lbs – November 2003

Duren’s outing against Alabama was kind of an encapsulation of what he is as a prospect. Duren excelled as a lob threat, finishing with 14 points on 7-9 shooting, and six of those field goals being dunks. He was 0-1 from the mid-range, had two turnovers (one coming off a face-up attempt), but he did have two assists on the short roll. Despite only blocking one shot, Duren was active as a rim protector and altered a handful of shots.

The short-roll passing was the most noticeable part of the game because that’s an element of Duren’s offense he can, and needs to improve on. Entering Tuesday night’s game, Duren had 10 assists to 21 turnovers. His face-up and isolation post-up game remains a bit raw, and he’s a non-shooter right now and not someone I project to be a shooter, so he needs another skillset. A good passer in high school, Duren’s processing, and feel on roll situations could be a swing skill for him.

Even in a strong outing, I didn’t leave Memphis in love with the idea of Duren as a prospect. He’s incredibly built for his age, has a plus catch radius, and can impact the game defensively. Still, I wonder if the offense is too far behind and if he can return top five value being just a lob threat.

Duren is incredibly young, still improving, and not in a great team context, while still being productive on both ends of the floor. The defense gives him a high-enough floor to be a rotational, and potential starting NBA big, which warrants lottery consideration. I just have my doubts about the offensive end.

I will save thoughts on Emoni Bates for another time, as his draft year is still a year away.