There hasn’t been any public movement on an extension for Jaden Ivey and the Detroit Pistons only have until October 20th to make a decision, but that decision may already be made.
In a recent episode of The Zach Lowe Show, the hosts predicted whether Jaden Ivey or Jalen Duren would get an extension, with both hosts leaning towards no, an assessment that seems like the correct one.
Lowe left the door open slightly for Duren, who does seem like the safer bet, but both agreed that an extension likely wasn’t coming for Ivey.
The 30-game sample size from last season wasn’t enough to commit and doing so now would eliminate the chance of the Pistons having any real cap space next summer, which may be a priority for Trajan Langdon.
That doesn’t mean Ivey is going anywhere if both sides can compromise to a contract that is agreeable, but right now, there seems to be a wide gulf between what Ivey wants and what the Pistons are comfortable giving.
But there is another reason the Pistons will likely bide their time with Ivey.
Jaden Ivey is the Pistons biggest trade asset
If the Pistons were to extend Ivey now, it would make it more difficult to trade him because of the poison pill rule in the NBA. If Ivey were extended, his trade number would be the first year of his new contract, which complicates things.
Trajan Langdon and JB Bickerstaff talked about giving this team a chance to grow together, so it’s not like they are shopping Ivey, but leaving that possibility open is probably the smart move, as they aren’t at much risk of losing him in free agency.
Packaging Ivey, Harris and picks could get the Pistons an impact player, so even though Ivey is not currently on the market, he could be before the trade deadline if such a player becomes available, and Langdon sees his chance to pounce.
This all adds up to Jaden Ivey entering next season without an extension in hand and going into restricted free agency next summer. There will be more teams with cap space next summer, so there is some risk to this approach from the Pistons, though we’ve not seen many offer sheets extended over the last several offseasons, including zero in this one.
There is also the possibility that Ivey blows up next season and Detroit missed a chance to lock him into a more team-friendly deal.
Those are risks Detroit seems to be willing to take, at least for now, but we’ll know for sure on October 20th.