The Detroit Pistons‘ two brightest stars have officially been crowned as such.
Cade Cunningham was named first-team All-NBA on Sunday, May 24 – becoming the first Pistons player to earn the honor since Grant Hill in 1996-97. He is only the seventh player in franchise history – a list that includes Isiah Thomas, Dave Bing, Gene Shue, George Yardley and Larry Foust – to do so and just the sixth since the team moved to Detroit in 1957.
Jalen Duren was named third-team All-NBA, joining Cunningham to form the first Pistons duo to make an All-NBA team since Ben Wallace and Chauncey Billups both made the second team in 2005-06. It’s Duren’s first time earning the award.
Cunningham, who was a third-teamer last season, is the first Piston to earn an All-NBA nod in back-to-back seasons since Billups in 2005-06 and 2006-07.
Cunningham, 24, and Duren, 22, were both All Stars in February en route to leading the Pistons to an Eastern Conference-best 60-22 record, third-best in franchise history. Cunningham averaged 23.9 points, 9.9 assists and 5.5 rebounds per game in 64 regular season games in Year 1 of his five-year, $269 million rookie max extension; Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 70 games.
Cunningham won an appeal in April to be eligible for end-of-season awards, despite falling short of the NBA’s rule requiring 65 games played to qualify due to a lung injury in mid-March.
Jalen Duren contract in free agency
Duren is set to enter restricted free agency this summer.
By making All-NBA, Duren is now eligible for a five-year rookie max extension worth up to roughly $287 million – a $49.5 million bump from his contract value without an All-NBA selection. Only the Pistons have the right to offer the 30% max; the other 29 teams are limited to up to four years and $177.4 million at the 25% max. The Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets are the three teams projected to have cap space.
“We look forward to coming together with his representative and getting a deal done, and for him to continue to be a Piston,” Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said Tuesday, two days after the season ended with a Game 7 blowout loss at home in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Duren’s market is projected to be well under his max. His play dropped off significantly in the playoffs, as he averaged 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds and awas often outplayed by third-string center Paul Reed.
ESPN cap expert Bobby Marks, a former Nets exec, wrote Friday he’d offer Duren a $180 million deal over five years – $36 million annually. “The first-year salary ($31 million) is 21% of the cap and slightly less than the starting number of Rockets center Alperen Sengun,” Marks wrote. Sengun signed a five-year, $185 million rookie extension just before the 2024-25 season, keeping him from restricted free agency.
It has been a fruitful awards season for the Pistons – Ausar Thompson recently was named first-team All-Defense after finishing third in the Defensive Player of the Year race, and Duren finished second in Most Improved Player voting.
J.B. Bickerstaff is a finalist for Coach of the Year, which will be announced Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
This story will be updated.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren named All-NBA for Detroit Pistons