The Pistons Should Seriously Consider Trading Jalen Duren Amid Stalled Contract Talks. Here's Why.

Usually, a 22-year-old All-Star and All-NBA center is retained on a handsome new contract when he hits free agency. The Pistons have reportedly offered that to Jalen Duren, one of the franchise’s home-grown talents, but the two sides remain apart in negotiations with the 2026–27 season on the near horizon.

Duren, who made his first All-Star appearance and was named third team All-NBA last season, is a restricted free agent. The restricted status gives Detroit the leverage; the franchise can pay Duren more than any other team and it can match an offer sheet he signs elsewhere.

At this point in the offseason, little is left to be determined. No team has the cap space to put a significant offer sheet in front of Duren that would force Detroit’s hand. A sign-and-trade is a possibility, but the Pistons have shown a reluctance to entertain potential offers.

That leaves two options: Duren inks a new, long-term deal with Detroit or he plays out the season on a $9.6 million qualifying offer to become an unrestricted free agent next summer. The qualifying offer path is a risk for both sides. Duren would leave a ton of guaranteed money on the table this season and there’s an injury risk or a potential drop in his value over the course of the year. From the Pistons’ stance, the franchise could lose their All-Star big man for nothing if he signs the qualifying offer and walks a year from now.

A new deal is in the best interest of the player and the team. However, both parties remain apart on an exact contract number. On Friday, The Athletic’s Sam Amick and Hunter Patterson reported that Detroit’s last offer to Duren was a five-year deal in the range of $190 million, while Duren and his team hope for at least $200 million. Maybe splitting hairs, but the Pistons will need to pay Ausar Thompson, who’s currently eligible for an extension, eventually and the franchise must be tight around the margins to put a long-term contender around its superstar, Cade Cunningham.

Should neither side budge and Duren signs the qualifying offer Detroit tendered him this summer to make him a restricted free agent, the Pistons must seriously consider moving on.

Why accepting the qualifying offer should signal the end of Jalen Duren’s time in Detroit

Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren were both All-Stars last season | Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

If Duren takes the qualifying offer, he would get inherent no-trade protection for the year which gives him some leverage should he decide to take that route. There are ways around that, though. Last year, Quentin Grimes signed an $8.7 million qualifying offer with the 76ers. Philadelphia and Grimes never agreed to a long-term deal, but the team offered him a one-year, $8.8 million deal which would have given him $100,000 more in exchange for giving up the no-trade clause that comes with the standard qualifying offer.

Grimes declined that and took the QO to secure no-trade protection, although his camp reportedly suggested a one-year, $17 million dollar deal to give up the veto rights. He played out the year with the Sixers on the qualifying offer and signed with the Lakers over the offseason on a four-year, $60 million contract.

That situation compared to Duren’s is slightly different. Philly isn’t sweating the loss of Grimes after its offseason highlighted by the additions of LeBron James and Jaylen Brown. However, he did walk for nothing after a strong season.

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Detroit is in danger of a similar fate with Duren, which means the franchise has to test the market to avoid losing their All-Star center for nothing. That’s especially true if the front office has reservations about him as a long-term option who takes up a considerable amount of the team’s cap sheet. Duren’s significant drop-off in the playoffs must play a part in the team’s hesitance to give him what he wants and call it a day. Additionally, though, the team has to consider that while Duren is a solid big man, he comes with flaws. He doesn’t shoot, he’s an average defender and he’s been careless with the ball at times.

He had a career year last season and looked like a true second scoring option next to Cunningham, but the front office needs to ask itself how sustainable that is over the years. Plus, if Thompson is seen as more certain of a long-term piece, the Pistons will have a difficult time improving the roster with significant deals for Cunningham, Thompson and Duren all on the books.

So, what should the Pistons do with Jalen Duren?

At this point, it appears certain there’s some sort of friction between Duren and the franchise that drafted him (under a different front office regime, admittedly). The Athletic reported that Duren didn’t attend a team minicamp in San Diego organized by Cunningham or a Labor Day team party at owner Tom Gores’s house in Southern California. Both absences seem reasonable as they weren’t required team events, but still eyebrow raising. More than that, Duren must feel at least a tad salty at how his team sees his value after a breakout year. Yes, maybe he got All-NBA because some other players were ineligible due to the 65 games requirement... but All-NBA is All-NBA.

His salary hopes are reasonable considering his accomplishments and remaining upside at only 22 years old. A team like the Kings or the Clippers could choose to give Duren at or near a maximum salary next offseason. Sacramento has been a long rumored suitor for Duren, whether earlier in the offseason through a sign-and-trade, through a trade during the season or in free agency next summer.

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If Duren is serious about the qualifying offer, the Pistons should offer him slightly above that amount to get a waiver on the trade protection that comes with it. Detroit has plenty of space under the first apron to make that happen, even if the franchise overpays Duren for a single season relative to what the QO would demand.

In a hypothetical deal with the Kings, Domantas Sabonis was rumored as the main piece that would go back to Detroit. Even if the Pistons wouldn’t see Sabonis as a long-term answer to a new hole at center, he would be a stopgap and is only under contract through 2027–28. That gives the Pistons flexibility to go chase a big name scorer to put alongside Cunningham and, in this scenario, sign Thompson sooner than it would with Duren on the books for a large number over five years.

Duren on a one-year deal is much less valuable than on a long-term contract. However, if the Kings or a similar team are certain they can retain him long term or Detroit relents on a sign-and-trade, the Pistons could get some shiny draft capital in return. A veteran that addresses a need and a solid draft pick (or picks) is a lot better than losing Duren for nothing after the season.

While Detroit would have a massive hole to fill without Duren, the Pisons could then bring in a worthwhile center on a much more reasonable annual value, which would leave space to add around Cunningham’s increasing salary and a presumed new deal for Thompson.

A one-year deal at a higher amount than the qualifying offer should signal a forthcoming trade involving Duren, even if Detroit doesn’t get a considerable return for an expiring contract. At this point, it’s an option that the Pistons have to consider.

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