Hawks Avoid Costly Jalen Duren Gamble After Pistons Extension

The Atlanta Hawks had been linked to Jalen Duren, but now he's committed to the Detroit Pistons.

Hawks fans should not mourn the possibility of him joining the team.

I've written about this extensively. This will be the last Duren-to-Atlanta article. He just signed a five-year, $200 million extension in Motor City.

That's not a price the Hawks should be paying for Duren.

That's not to say Duren isn't worth that money.

Let's be clear: Duren had a sensational 2025-26 season. He averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game with a 5.0 Box Plus/Minus (BPM) and was rewarded with an All-NBA Third Team selection as a result.

Stop me if you've read this here before: Duren went 0-for-0 from 3-point range. He's a total non-shooter. The Hawks roster Dyson Daniels and Jalen Johnson, and they both benefit from being surrounded by shooters.

More specifically, they both benefited from Onyeka Okongwu's 37.6% shooting from deep in 2025-26. He was one of the best floor spacers at his position in the NBA, and presumably replacing him with a non-shooter never made sense.

Now, it won't be an option. Duren will stay with the Pistons.

And he'll make more money than the Hawks can spare.

Johnson ($30 million) and Daniels ($25 million) are both locked up on long-term, below-market-value deals.

That's great. The same cannot be said for Okongwu. His deal expires after 2027-28, and he's extension-eligible as of this summer. Given his superior fit with Johnson and Daniels, the Hawks should earmark salary space for him.

Otherwise, there's some short-term financial uncertainty in Atlanta. CJ McCollum and Luguentz Dort are both on expiring deals. Whether the Hawks want to replace or retain the veterans, they'll need some space, and they'll want some flexibility.

That's before considering the sign-and-trade arrangements that would have been made. Perhaps the Hawks could have offered some combination of Jock Landale, Corey Kispert, and Dorian Finney-Smith, but that surely would have cost future draft capital.

At $40 million a year, Duren would be the highest-paid player on the Hawks. He's offensively limited compared to Johnson.

Simply put, it never made sense to sacrifice either financial or asset flexibility to bring him on. He's a very good player, but he's not right for Atlanta.

Now, Hawks fans will have to catch Pistons games if they want to see him.