Shortly after the Detroit Pistons postseason run expired in the middle of May, President of Basketball Operations Trajan Langdon spoke with the media about his offseason plans. In that press conference, Langdon mentioned that he looked forward to reaching an agreement with restricted free agent Jalen Duren's representation , but the offseason has already hit early September without a signed deal.
In the Duren RFA saga, the 22-year old scheduled meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings right when free agency opened up, but the All-Star center never signed an offer sheet from either team. After that, Duren lobbied for a sign-and-trade to another squad, but the Pistons weren't willing to budge for that type of deal.
Since Duren made the All-NBA Third Team last season as a product of his 19.5 point, 10.5 rebound performance, the big man is eligible for a max contract this summer, which would come in at around $42 million per year. The only hang up is that Duren's production cratered as soon as Detroit hit the playoffs this past season, and a quarter of the salary cap is a lot to commit to a player that disappeared in the most recent postseason.
In terms of comparable centers across the NBA, only four players are set to make over $50 million for the 2026-27 campaign: Karl-Anthony Towns, Joel Embiid, Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic according to Spotrac. Bouncing down to the $40-49 million bracket, Chet Holmgren, Domantas Sabonis and Bam Adebayo are the next-highest paid centers in the league, then Rudy Gobert checks in at the No. 8 position with a $36.5 million cap hit for the upcoming season.
Since the $40 million threshold seems a bit too rich for the Pistons blood at this point in time, Duren can most realistically expect a contract in the ballpark of Gobert's deal. Over the course of the next four years, Duren would make over $140 million while he enters the prime of his career, which would theoretically set him up for another big time deal for his next contract, and he could continue to grow and develop alongside Cade Cunningham and Ausar Thompson.
When Duren struggled mightily against the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, Pistons head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stuck by his big man and spoke about the importance of showing belief in a player who is so important to the franchise. That shows how much the Pistons value Duren on a long-term scale, so the team wants to have JD back for the next several seasons, but the price has served as the sticking point.
Zooming out even further, Duren has a good chance to make USA Basketball's next Olympic team with Cunningham assuredly on the squad, and Bickerstaff was recently named as an assistant coach for the team as well. So, there are several reasons why it makes logical sense for Duren to return to the Motor City, but there should be some clarity soon since the big man has until Oct. 1 to decide whether he wants to sign his qualifying offer or not.
