Jalen Duren Eyeing Kings as Pistons Standoff Turns Personal, Says He Feels Disrespected
Jalen Duren is 22 years old, an All-Star center, and an All-NBA player last season. He has been unsigned for two and a half months. Training camp starts in two weeks. And according to Marc J. Spears of ESPN, this is no longer about money for him.
Spears reported Monday that Duren feels disrespected by the Detroit Pistons. That word matters, because you cannot fix disrespect with a revised offer sheet. Detroit is reportedly still focused on bringing him back and repairing the relationship before camp opens, which is a nice sentiment from a team that let a 22-year-old All-NBA big man sit on the market all summer.
The gap is not enormous on paper. Detroit is offering five years at roughly $35 million per season. Duren wants north of $40 million annually. The two sides are about $5 million apart. For a franchise with a young All-NBA center on its roster, that is a rounding error dressed up as a principle.
The Kings are circling, and it makes sense
Spears reported Duren is eyeing Sacramento. He likes the Kings and has a relationship with GM Scott Perry. Sacramento is shopping Domantas Sabonis and needs a young big to pair with Maxime Raynaud as the rebuild takes shape. That is a clean fit on both ends of the deal.
The Clippers have also emerged as a suitor in recent weeks. So the market exists. The problem is that the market cannot actually reach him, because Detroit holds his restricted rights, says it has no interest in a sign-and-trade, and has made clear it will match any offer sheet he signs. Duren can be loved by 29 teams and still only negotiate with one.
Which brings us to the $9.6 million question.
Take the qualifying offer
Duren has until Oct. 1 to sign Detroit’s qualifying offer, and he is reportedly considering it seriously. He should sign it.
Yes, $9.6 million is a fraction of what he is worth, and yes, one season of injury risk on a non-guaranteed future is a real gamble. But look at what the alternative buys him. If he caves and signs Detroit’s five-year offer, he is locked into a relationship he already describes as disrespectful, at a number below what he believes he has earned, until he is 27.
The qualifying offer flips the entire board. It makes him an unrestricted free agent next summer, which means Detroit loses its veto power over his life. And Sacramento, the team he actually wants, could create room to sign him to a max contract next offseason. The team he wants is building toward being able to pay him. He just has to survive a year to get there.
There is also a competitive argument here that nobody is making loudly enough. Duren playing a contract year with something to prove is a better version of Duren than Duren playing year one of a deal he resents. Detroit might get the best basketball of his career out of pure spite. That is not the worst outcome for a team that seems determined to nickel and dime him.
The risk is obvious. A serious injury on a $9.6 million salary would be brutal, and nobody should pretend otherwise. But he is 22, he is already an All-NBA player, and the franchise on the other side of the table has spent a summer telling him exactly how it values him.
Detroit could end this tomorrow. Meet him near $40 million, apologize for the summer, and go win games with an All-NBA center in his prime. Instead the Pistons are betting that leverage beats goodwill, and they are about to find out what a young star does when he decides he has nothing left to lose.
Sign the qualifying offer, Jalen. Make them watch you walk.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.