The Detroit Pistons will begin training camp tomorrow, but Jalen Duren is not slated to be in attendance given his still-unresolved contract negotiation
Heading into Media Day for the Detroit Pistons, the major question on the front of everyone’s mind was the timeframe for 22-year old center Jalen Duren’s contract extension. That is, if Duren even decided to sign a long-term deal after posturing that the qualifying offer is still on the table.
Now, Duren only has until Oct. 1 to decide whether he’d like to take the QO and hit free agency next offseason, but that deadline is rapidly approaching. If the QO is right for Duren, then the All-Star will make $9.6 million this season, which is substantially lower than the Average Annual Value that the Pistons are offering.
With that situation still very much in flux, Pistons point guard Cade Cunningham met with the media and issued a clear vote of support for Duren as his teammate sorts through an uncomfortable contract negotiation with the team, one that Cunningham knows a lot about.
”Yeah, we’ve talked, talked a lot,” Cunningham said. “I was just in the same situation recently. For me, it’s a tough situation. It’s something that you don’t really have people in your life that have been through something that is like this. I felt that way, and JD feels that way. I’m the person that he knows that is somebody that’s been through this type of situation, so really just trying to encourage him and just be supportive for him, whatever he needs.”
Over the offseason, Cunningham held a mini-camp in San Diego, and most of the Detroit squad was in attendance for the series of workouts. Duren was notably absent from the gathering as a result of his contract situation, but Cunningham confirmed that he and JD, the good friends that they are, were on the same page the entire time.
”I’ve been in those shoes before, and he talked to me beforehand,” Cunningham said. “We talked about it. We were all good. It was nothing. Maybe you were disappointed, but I wasn’t.”
Later in the media availability, Cunningham reiterated how he’s “gone to war” with Duren in the postseason and touched on how close their families are. Given the strength of their friendship, Cunningham has the maturity to understand that the team’s negotiating process is independent of his relationship with Duren, so he’s remained supportive throughout the entire offseason.
Based on recent reports, the Pistons have offered Duren a five-year deal worth $200 million, but the big man has obviously not accepted Detroit’s most recent offer. When Pistons President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon met with the media shortly before Cunningham, the Detroit decision-maker made it clear that Duren has until Thursday to decide whether or not to accept the qualifying offer. Otherwise, the Pistons have a long-term extension on the table that could bring Duren back into the building with the pre-season set to start in short order on Oct. 5 against the Phoenix Suns.
While the Pistons do have the freedom to extend the qualifying offer deadline unilaterally until March 1, there is no indication that Detroit feels doing so would be advantageous for their negotiating position. So, Oct. 1 seems to be a hard-line that the Pistons have set with regards to Duren’s future in the Motor City.
