Pistons $155M contract decision gives major setback in Jalen Duren negotiations amid stalemate

The Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren have been the talk of the NBA this offseason as the contract saga continues to drag on. Duren is one of the best young centers in the game, but the Pistons haven’t wanted to pay him that much throughout the summer.

The battle between the two sides has gone on for so long that Detroit made a rookie extension over the weekend. Ausar Thompson received an extension before Duren.

“Detroit Pistons All-Defensive forward Ausar Thompson has agreed to a five-year, $155 million rookie-scale contract extension with the franchise, sources told ESPN,” ESPN’s Shams Charania wrote.

Charania recently revealed that the Pistons have given Duren a new lucrative contract offer. This one is worth his desired $200 million.

“The Pistons and Jalen Duren are at an impasse and it's highly up in the air and questionable as to whether he will be reporting and showing up for media day in just 7 days...over the course of this offseason, his offer from the Pistons has been around the $180 to $190M over 5 years range. And that has also included incentives like weight clauses to my understanding. And that has all played a part in this as well. And over the last several weeks been kind of quiet on this front. The sides have picked up communication. And I am told right now the Pistons offer to Jalen Duren is $200M over 5 years,” Charania said.

While that would have worked a couple of weeks ago, the Thompson extension has now put a dent in the process.

“Detroit inking Thompson to a five-year, $155 million deal, which will begin paying him an average annual value of $31 million, added a layer to Duren’s contract negotiations,” The Athletic’s Sam Amick wrote.

This continues to be a never-ending saga with the two sides still so far apart in negotiations. Detroit should have had this offer from the beginning, or at least when they realized how stubborn Duren’s camp was going to be.

After not being the first rookie extension on the team this offseason, Duren is wanting more. At this point, Detroit should just find some value for the young center somewhere else before he accepts a qualifying offer.

More NBA news: