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Jalen Duren is one of the best young centers in the game, there is no doubt about that. However, he and his camp have played hard to get with the Detroit Pistons amid contract discussions.
The Pistons want Duren to be the future of the organization alongside Cade Cunningham, but he isn’t budging on any deal. A qualifying offer is starting to get more and more scary as the summer goes on.
“If he takes that (qualifying offer)...he really wants out, he is fed up...he doesn't want to be there. Even if that's the case I would say do not do that," NBA reporter Chris Haynes said.
The latest contract that the Pistons have offered was a deal worth $195 million.
“The Pistons didn’t want a deal to be over $35 million. That was the initial talk for the Pistons, not Jalen Duren, where they wanted to get him on a contract around $35 million. Jalen Duren and his camp viewed him as a max-level player, that wasn’t gonna be on the table at all, so they’ve been kind of headstrong on saying that they want over $40 million a year on a new deal. That’s where the discrepancy has lied. Our good friend over at The Athletic, Sam Amick, says that a five-year $195 million deal is on the table from the Pistons, around $37-$38 million annually. That hasn’t been accepted right now and if you’re Jalen Duren and his camp, I mean, what else do you really want at this point,” ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel said.
Also according to Siegel, the Pistons had a trade offer for Duren that would have given them Sabonis, but they declined.
“There was a trade on the table from the Kings for Jalen Duren. They were willing to offer Domontas Sabonis to the Pistons but that’s not what the Pistons want. They want to bring Jalen Duren back and secure him on a long term deal,” Siegel stated.
This is interesting, as Sabonis has proved himself way more than Duren and the veteran doesn’t disappear in the playoffs. Yes, Duren is a much more valuable player due to his age, but that doesn’t mean it is the right move to keep him.
Sabonis has earned $272 million throughout his career. If Duren takes the qualifying offer and Detroit doesn’t lock him up long term, they are going to regret passing on one of the best rebounders in the NBA.
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