Jalen Duren Wants $287 Million. The Pistons Offered Less. Here’s Why the Standoff Is Getting Ugly.
Jalen Duren wants a max contract. The Detroit Pistons do not want to give him one. Somewhere in the middle is where this ends, and nobody is close to that middle yet.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported that negotiations between the Pistons and their restricted free agent center are at a “standstill” and could stretch deep into August. Duren is looking for a five-year, $287.1 million supermax extension worth close to $40 million a year. The Pistons have countered in the $35 to $38 million per year range, which is closer to a $175 to $190 million five-year total.
Both numbers are enormous for a 22-year-old center. Both sides think they are right.
The case for Duren getting the max is real. He is an All-NBA selection who put up 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game during the regular season last year, is one of the youngest legitimate two-way big men in the league, and is the exact kind of vertical rim-runner every offense in the modern NBA has been trying to find. He is going to be productive for a long time.
The case for the Pistons being cautious is also real. Duren averaged only 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in the playoffs, which was a huge drop from his regular season numbers. That kind of postseason regression is exactly what makes NBA front offices pause before writing a max check. If Duren cannot be a top-15 player in a playoff series, is he actually worth $57 million a year in the last year of a five-year deal?
The Pistons’ position, based on public reporting, is that Duren has to prove he can be a real second-round-plus playoff performer before they hand him the supermax. Their offer, which is still huge money by any objective measure, protects the franchise from a worst-case scenario where his ceiling turned out to be his floor. It also frees up flexibility to keep Cade Cunningham and continue building around him.
The Duren camp’s position is that he is 22 years old, is an All-NBA player, and is the exact kind of big who defines the modern NBA. Waiting for him to have a great playoff series before paying him is a way to underpay him now. They also point to comparable young bigs who have gotten paid closer to their number.
Both sides are right in their own way. The problem is that restricted free agency is a slow burn. Duren can sign an offer sheet with another team, but no one has thrown one at him because everyone knows Detroit will match. That takes his leverage away and slows the process down.
The pressure point is training camp. If Duren shows up unhappy and unsigned, the Pistons have a real problem going into a season where they are supposed to be a rising Eastern Conference team. They cannot afford drama around their two best young players.
The compromise probably lives at four years for $150 million to $160 million, with a player option in year four and enough guaranteed money to get everyone through the summer. Both sides know it. They are just posturing to get there.
Get it done, Detroit. This is not the kind of standoff that leads anywhere good.
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.
