Paul Reed has started twice for Jalen Duren, and he is now the Pistons big man to add

When Jalen Duren strained his right hamstring last week, we named John Collins as the Pistons pickup, on the strength of the 16 points and 11 rebounds he had just posted in Philadelphia. Two games into Duren's absence, the better pickup is the other big man who started beside him in both of them. Paul Reed scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds starting in place of Duren in Tuesday's 111-97 loss to the Knicks, according to ESPN's recap, while Collins scored two points on 1-of-4 shooting in 27 minutes, and that is the second time in Detroit's last three games that Reed has been the more productive of the two.

The case for Reed rests on what he does with his minutes rather than on how many he gets, since he played 26 on Tuesday and has not yet played more than that this season. In 9-cat leagues his projected steals and blocks are worth more than Collins' threes, and in points leagues his shooting has made his minutes count. Duren will be reevaluated two weeks from October 25, according to ESPN's injury report, which leaves Detroit five games before that check, starting with Charlotte on Wednesday night.

Every player in this story is on the fantasy basketball rankings and the 2026-27 projections, and the NBA depth charts show where each one stands in his team’s rotation tonight.