Today marked an important day in the direction of the Pistons franchise as the club declined to extend the rookie contracts of Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivey. The deadline to do so was 6 pm today, and the Pistons were not able to reach an agreement with either player, though there is optimism that Detroit can retain the pair through restricted free agency next offseason.

Jalen Duren: No Extension

In recent days, reports emerged that Duren’s camp was looking for an extension in the neighborhood of four years for around $30 million per year. Now, that is a lot of capital to allocate to a center averaging just north of 10 points per game, and it appears the Pistons felt the same way. 

Last season, Duren grabbed 10.3 rebounds per game and posted a steadily-improving defensive efficiency rating of 108.9, but Detroit likely needs more of a presence down low from a player who contributes at such a marginal level offensively. Now, Duren has worked on improving his jump shot and adding some range to his game, but for the most part he’s been most active around the rim, showing a particular voracity for lobs. 

4 Weeks Without Jaden Ivey Spells More Minutes For Daniss Jenkins, Marcus Sasser A pair of Pistons guards will have a clear opportunity at the start of the regular season.

In Detroit’s last preseason game, a 21-point victory at home over the Washington Wizards, Duren scored 20 points with a couple powerful dunks and grabbed six rebounds to go with three blocks and two assists in just 19 minutes. More performances of that nature a season ago would have possibly persuaded the Pistons to lock down Duren on a long-term basis at today’s deadline. 

Jaden Ivey: No Extension

The Pistons were put in a precarious situation with Ivey’s extension. The fourth-year guard has shown a boatload of promise in his time with the Pistons from his scoring ability to his explosive running of the floor to his ball handling skills, but the Purdue product just has not remained healthy enough to commit to long-term.

Last season, Ivey started the initial 30 games for Detroit but was sidelined for the rest of the year with a broken leg. Ivey was in the early stages of making his comeback this preseason (logging 14 minutes in the preseason opener), but the return was short-lived with Ivey undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery last week. 

The Pistons have been outspoken in the organization’s belief in Ivey’s talent, so this decision was not a matter of whether Ivey fits the system but more a question of how much Ivey’s camp would request in comparison to what Detroit felt comfortable offering. As a result, Ivey will enter next offseason as a restricted free agent, which means the Pistons will still have an opportunity to match any deal for Ivey that materializes over the summer.

The Detroit Pistons will open the regular season with an away game against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, Oct. 22 at 8 pm.

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