What the Depth Chart Looks Like When Cunningham and Duren Sit Down

The day-to-day designations for Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren aren't resolved yet, and the playoffs are here. So it's worth being specific about what Detroit actually has if either or both miss time early.

At center, Isaac Jones is the rotation. That's essentially it — there's no proven secondary option behind him with meaningful minutes logged this season. If Duren, who averaged 17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds on 64.8% shooting, can't go, Jones inherits a role that was never designed to carry a playoff series opener. At guard, Daniss Jenkins is the most natural fill-in behind Cunningham, with Ebuka Okorie and Kevin Huerter available in the backcourt mix. Tobias Harris, whose minutes climbed sharply during the final stretch, figures to absorb more offensive responsibility in the forward rotation regardless of who's available.

The center situation is the sharper concern. The depth chart was thin there before any of this — a known issue heading into October, not a surprise. What's changed is the timing. Duren's $200 million extension was supposed to close the book on a messy offseason and let Detroit focus on winning. His availability for Game 1 is now an open question.

Detroit is still the No. 1 seed. The roster, healthy, is built for this. But the next few days of injury updates will tell us more about how this first round actually shapes up than anything that happened in the regular season.