With less than a month until training camp, the Detroit Pistons are still trying to re-sign restricted free agent center Jalen Duren
With Jalen Duren entering the offseason as a restricted free agent, the Detroit Pistons knew that the negotiation process might not be a smooth, straightforward process after the big man turned in an All-Star year last season.
Once free agency opened up, Duren held meetings with a couple other Western Conference teams, but those discussions ultimately went nowhere, which left JD to negotiate with Detroit on a long-term extension unless he signs his qualifying offer. In the latter case, Duren would become an unrestricted free agent next offseason, and the Pistons would have virtually no shot to retain the All-NBA Third Teamer since the move would effectively sour the relationship between the two sides to an irreparable level.
”Is his future still with the Detroit Pistons? To me, I think the answer is no,” NBA insider Brett Siegel said. “I don’t think that if he signs a long-term contract he is going to finish that contract with the Pistons. I think that the damage has been done. Jalen Duren and his camp don’t necessarily want to be there long-term because they don’t feel valued, especially with all these reports saying Ausar Thompson is still our No. 2 guy and not Jalen Duren, who is coming off an All-Star and All-NBA season. So, it will be interesting to see what this cap figure looks like once they do agree to an extension. I do anticipate that happening.”
Since Duren has until Oct. 1 to sign his qualifying offer, there should finally be some clarity regarding this situation in the next couple weeks. If JD opts not to sign his qualifying offer, then he will most assuredly be able to work out a long-term deal with Detroit in lieu of sitting out the 2026-27 campaign.
However, the timeline at that point becomes a bit clunky. In an ideal world, the Pistons would re-sign Duren within the next two to three weeks, then the team can work on a rookie scale extension for Ausar Thompson. Detroit has an Oct. 20 deadline in terms of extending Thompson before the regular season kicks off, so that contract negotiation is another factor to consider from the Pistons’ point of view.
“They can’t give Jalen Duren a $35+ million deal plus Ausar Thompson a $40 million deal,” Siegel said. “It would just completely cripple this franchise in terms of putting them towards the second apron, so I think that it’s going to be somewhere in the $25-32 million range, some kind of sweet spot there.”
This season, Cade Cunningham is slated to make just over $50 million according to Spotrac, so a yearly total for Duren and Thompson in the $40 million ballpark for each would put the club at a $130 payroll for just three players, which would be too restricting from a financial perspective with the salary cap set at $164.9 for the upcoming year.
Since training camp is going to start in the Motor City later this month, pressure between the two sides will only mount until a deal is done, so this is a crucial period of the offseason for the Pistons.
