The narrative around Jalen Duren took another hard turn yesterday when it was reported that he had turned down a $200 million deal from the Detroit Pistons.
We’d been told repeatedly through media leaks that $200 million was the magic number Duren was waiting for, but even that doesn’t seem like enough now.
If Duren takes the qualifying offer or the Pistons are forced to trade him this late in the offseason, the narrative around the situation will be set in stone.
The Pistons offered Duren a ton of money, more than anyone else can (even if he gets a max deal next summer), and he turned it down. The spotlight will be entirely on Duren, and the Pistons will look like the good guys, as they tried their best.
Fans have already turned on Duren, and that won’t change unless he signs and plays extremely well, but it’s not too late for the narrative to take another twist.
If the Detroit Pistons raise their offer to Jalen Duren, the story changes again
I can only speak anecdotally, but I do interact with a large swathe of fans, and nearly all of them I’ve encountered agree that $200 million is more than fair for Jalen Duren.
There are some Duren truthers out there for sure, but they are the minority.
So, if the Pistons were to draw a line at $200 million and find a way to get out now, I don’t think too many fans would blame them.
Where things could change in the PR war is if the Pistons raise their offer even more to something in the $210 or even 220 range just to get a deal done.
All of the talk about Duren’s agent being a fool would disappear, and he’d suddenly look like a genius for holding out, as he will have gotten his client significantly more than the original offer.
The Pistons will not only look like fools for caving but will have people wondering why in the world they didn’t just do it months ago to avoid all of this negativity.
Regardless of what happens, this has put a black cloud over the Pistons going into training camp, and it could have all been avoided if the Pistons were willing to go that high anyway.
If they truly think Duren is worth that kind of money (I'd disagree on that assessment), then they should have just offered it up front and gotten their center into camp happy and ready to go.
Instead, we are less than a week away, and a deal looks further away, not closer.
The Pistons can emerge from this mess with the fans and media on their side, but if they are forced into giving him even more money or into making a bad trade, it will look like the team dropped the ball.
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