NBA Restricted Free Agency Rages On
ClutchPoints NBA Insiders Tomer Azarly and Brett Siegel discuss the latest on restricted free agency and what some players and teams are eyeing as we enter the dead of the offseason.
Video Transcript
I, I do wanna move on to some other guys who, who, who are restricted free agents, a- and one guy who, I know definitely does not wanna take that qualifying offer, Jalen Duren.
Obviously the- he and the Pistons, we, we've heard a bunch of rumors around them maybe, being very far apart on, on, a new deal.
Du- Duren obviously after making all NBA wants the max that he can get.
The Pistons, after watching that playoff showing, and understandably with their, you know, financial situation for the next couple years, if they wanna be contenders, want him on a little bit less than that, something more of a team-friendly deal that honestly, i- in the range they're looking for, is still a pretty good deal for Duren, but again, he, he wants the max and this is the pr- entering the prime of his career.
You, you, you should want that.
W- where do things stand right now with Jalen Duren?
Th- this kinda feels like to me like one of those Peyton Watson situations where this is gonna drag on into September, it just feels like, because the- there's just, there's just no pressure to get a deal done right now.
There's still a month and a half, almost two months left in the off-season.
Nothing needs to happen right now necessarily.
So, wh- where do things stand with those two?
There's been zero progress since the last time we talked about this.
I believe it was maybe two weeks ago, maybe around the time of Summer League, of they were having discussions and the sides were very far apart, and nothing has really changed on that.
The, the Pistons offer is pretty much what it is.
It's somewhere in that $30 to $35 million annually range.
They don't wanna go above that for Jalen Duren.
They don't view him as a max, max level guy as him and his camp do, and that's why the situation's gonna continue to drag on.
It's gonna go on to late August, possibly early September, maybe even late September, and then past training camp.
Maybe this still isn't figured out then, a- and it inches closer to the start of the season.
But I've heard nothing about sign-and-trades.
The Pistons are not interested in that, and everybody I talk to says Jalen Duren is not going to be taking the qualifying offer, that they think he would be absolutely crazy to do so.
I tend to agree.
I mean, you're an All-Star, All-NBA talent, and you're gonna take the qualifying offer.
That's a major risk for you to do, especially as a center where there's more wear and tear for those guys in this league than guards and wings.
And so it- we'll see what happens.
Though the Pistons do not wanna go more than $35 million for Jalen Duren.
I, I think that somewhere in that $32, $33 million range is very fair value for him, whether it's a three-year, four-year deal.
And we'll just kinda wait and see what happens.
That, that's kinda where we're at with this restricted free agency and what the holdup is.
It's just two sides that are very far apart, and there's really no middle ground right now.
They, they're just very far apart on these discussions.
It's a hefty, hefty price tag, even at a discount.
30, 35 million for Jalen Duren, a fantastic contract in my, in my opinion.
But again, fully understand him having the best season of his career, making All-NBA.
You don't know when or if that'll happen again, injuries, whatever, so you gotta maximize your earnings.
These guys' primes are very, very short, so fully understand him wanting to get the maximum amount they can.
Let's look at Benedict Mathurin, with the LA Clippers.
I know pictured with the, with the Indiana Pacers.
But, a restricted free agent for, for the Clippers.
They obviously have interest in bringing him back.
We've reported on that multiple times.
But, but they're a team that's kind of sitting in limbo here, both with teams interested in Mathurin a- and because of their own, you know, issues with the, the Or at least waiting on the NBA's investigation into Kawhi Leonard.
And that's the holdup.
We, we mentioned it with Peyton Watson.
We mentioned it with the Clippers in general of why they haven't made any moves yet other than that two-way signing.
I believe they brought in Jaylen Pickett to, to his two-way contract.
But there's nothing that can happen for them.
They don't know what their cap figures are gonna look like.
They don't know if Kawhi Leonard's gonna be on their books.
They don't know if they're gonna get penalized a certain way that's gonna impact their cap.
They don't know when this trade is even gonna go through because the Ra- the Raptors don't wanna do the deal until they know what these sanctions are gonna be.
Is it just gonna be fines on the Clippers?
Is there gonna be nothing?
Is it gonna be a possible suspension for Leonard?
And if it is, then this trade is gonna get readjusted.
You're gonna see some draft picks get taken back by Toronto.
You're gonna see them get adjusted.
A- and that's just the nature of this trade.
That's why there's a holdup.
And it, it's good business by Toronto to hold it up because why would you do this knowing that this guy's under investigation?
And so that's why these two sides have not formally agreed to this trade yet, and it has not been finalized.
It's just kinda caught in the wind.
But everyone still expects Kawhi Leonard to be going to the Raptors.
It's just a matter of is this trade package gonna be changed?
And so in Mathurin's case, well, again, it's kinda like this pecking order where Kawhi Leonard's investigation needs to finish up, then they need to figure out, well, do we actually have a path to getting Peyton Watson?
Would he actually come here?
And if the answer to that is no, well, then you go to the third thing is bringing back Benedict Mathurin.
They do have a level of interest in doing so, but there's also some other suitors out there for potential sign-and-trades.
I know our good buddy Scotto, Mike Scotto over at HoopsHype, reported that the New Orleans Pelicans are a team that has had interest in Benedict Mathurin.
The Chicago Bulls, another team that's had interest in Benedict Mathurin, and there's some other teams that have some interest in sign-and-trade scenarios.
So we'll see what happens here.
I think that this maybe gets resolved before the Peyton Watson matter.
But again, it, it's just It comes down to what happens with Kawhi, and until we have an answer there, there's just nothing that the Clippers can really do.
And, and I know the Clippers would, would much rather, facilitate some kind of sign-and-trade than lose Mathurin for nothing.
But they have shown in the past they are willing to, you know, let guys walk in order to not sacrifice, you know, playing time, cap flexibility, stuff like that.
We s- we saw them let Paul George walk to the Philadelphia 76ers.
They helped James Harden get paid with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
So they're not a team afraid, of guys getting, getting paid like that elsewhere.
They, they'll let guys walk if they need to.
So, they're a bit of a different situation here.
I think th- they did acquire Mathurin as part of that Evgeny Zubac trade, along with the 2029 first-round pick, and the pick that ended up being Keaton Walker this, this summer.
So, interesting possibilities there.
Again, he, he's shown some flashes, and I think the Clippers would have a plan in place for him, should he return.
But again, this is a business and a lot of negotiations.
Teams like the Pelicans obviously looming as potential candidates for him.
So we'll see what happens there with, Benedict Mathurin.
Before we go into our final topic, a- any other restricted free agents we should be on the lookout for discussing ahead of, ahead of this?
It's just those big three.
It's just Peyton Watson, Jalen Duren, and Benedict Mathurin.
When those deals get figured out, I mean, it seems like again we're dealing with Jonathan Kuminga restricted free agency with the way that's being handled, but he is not a restricted free agent.
He's an unrestricted free agent.
Cleveland, Los Angeles are still the two teams interested in him.
I still think he's gonna end up with the Lakers.
I think it's the best spot for him.
But we've seen a lot about Jonathan Kuminga where, oh, he wants 20 million a year.
No, he wants 15.
Well, the offer was, $10 million annually from the Lakers.
It-- Can they get a potential sign-and-trade around that mark?
And what would they even send out?
Is there something that the Hawks would want?
So again, it's just a, a mess because no team has money to sign this guy outright, and when you start talking sign-and-trades, you start referring to him as kind of a restricted free agent in a way.
Yeah, the, the unfortunate part of this is a lot of guys have fallen, fallen victim to this kind of, odd market here where not a lot of teams have flexibility.
And then you add in the, the unknown of, of, of the CBA, there's some c- frustrations with the CBA.
And then the, the, the draft, you know, reform that, that just passed, will take effect next year for the first time.
We saw a lot of teams are not looking to trade for picks in these next three years.
Everyone wants picks after 2029, beyond that, 2030.
So, there's just a lot of unknowns, and guys like Duren, Watson, and Mathurin have just fallen to a bit of a, you know, unfavorable market here with, with everything that's kind of, transpired in the NBA.
So, I'm sure we'll see the CBA reformed in some capacity.
I, I'm very curious to see how that draft lottery reform works, on- once it goes into effect next year.
A- and I'm sure it'll have a, a massive impact on, free agents and pending free agents and, and contracts going forward.
So, we'll see how that all plays out.
