Detroit Pistons: Important Offseason Deadlines Looming For Duren, Thompson

Now that the Detroit Pistons are well past the halfway point in the offseason, it is important to recalibrate and take into perspective what agenda items still need to be accomplished. 

Above all else, the Pistons still need to reach an agreement with restricted free agent Jalen Duren sooner rather than later. The 22-year old All-Star center explored the market early on by taking meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, but those talks never resulted in a signed offer sheet for the All-NBA Third Team big man. 

Since the Pistons are not interested in executing a sign-and-trade for JD after he averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game last season, Duren is left to either work out a long-term with Detroit since the organization has most of the leverage or sign his qualifying offer so that he becomes an unrestricted free agent next offseason. If Duren is going to play the next season on just his qualifying offer, then he’d be slated to mark just under $10 million while running the risk of injury or a productivity decline. 

Either way, Duren is going to need to make his decision soon because the clock is ticking. Right now, the deadline for restricted free agents to accept their qualifying offer is Oct. 1, which means Duren has four weeks to decide whether he’s willing to accept the Pistons offer or if he’d rather roll the dice for 82 regular season games before hitting the open market next summer.

Last week, the NBA even released a message to dispel the notion that the league’s current Collective Bargaining Agreement is hampering restricted free agents’ ability to sign new deals in an expedient timeframe since Duren and others still haven’t signed a new contract. When looking back at other RFA negotiations that dragged out during the summer, Josh Giddey re-signed with the Chicago Bulls on Sept. 9 last year, while Jonathan Kuminga held out even longer before re-signing with the Golden State Warriors on Sept. 30, but Quentin Grimes waited the longest with an Oct. 1 return to the Philadelphia 76ers. 

Given the nature of those contract discussions, there certainly is precedent for Duren’s current situation with the Pistons. There is still time for the organization to reach a long-term deal with JD without souring the relationship entirely, but it needs to happen quickly since Detroit also wants to extend Ausar Thompson this offseason. 

For that move, the Pistons have until the first day of the regular season to ink Thompson to a rookie scale extension, which means Oct. 20 is the deadline. Most likely, the Pistons will reach an agreement with Duren in some capacity over the next several weeks, then Detroit will know exactly how much they can afford to spend on Thompson’s next contract. Last offseason, the Pistons were unable (or unwilling) to sign Duren to a rookie scale extension last offseason, which has predicated the situation that the two sides find themselves in today with JD as they last remaining star on the market.