The Detroit Pistons put the Jalen Duren drama aside for a moment yesterday to sign Ausar Thompson to a five-year early extension worth $155 million.
My bet is that Ausar’s deal will age well and end up looking like a huge bargain for the Pistons, but maybe even more importantly, it puts the ball back in Jalen Duren’s court.
Thompson’s deal should be a reality check for Duren, who now has even more pressure to get his deal signed before the deadline for the qualifying offer comes at the beginning of October.
Jalen Duren has to face reality and sign his deal already
A recent poll of Pistons fans showed that an overwhelming majority think Ausar Thompson is the second-most important player on the Pistons. I agree, and I think the front office does as well.
Yet, they have still reportedly offered Duren as much as $40 million more than the contract they just signed with Thompson, which really puts things in perspective. Does Duren really believe his market value is that much higher than Ausar’s?
He should know that it isn’t, as he trawled around the league looking for a deal or sign-and-trade this summer and wasn’t able to find one. No mystery team rescued him with an offer sheet, so I have some bad news for Duren, which is that this offer from the Pistons is the best he’s going to get.
It was a brilliant tactical move by the Pistons to get Ausar signed first, as it puts pressure squarely back on Duren, who now has a measuring stick to use for his own contract.
If he truly feels “disrespected” by the Pistons’ offer after looking at the one his teammate just signed, then he probably needs to get his head checked.
This deal not only shows Duren that he’s being a bit unreasonable with his own contract demands but also that the Pistons are ready to move on without him if necessary.
Duren has reportedly threatened to take the qualifying offer, which now seems ridiculous and hollow when you compare the reported $190 million, he was offered to the $155 million Thompson just signed for.
Thompson’s deal will hopefully be the thing that lights a fuse under Duren. The Pistons very much want Cunningham, Thompson and Duren to be the trio they build around and have now committed to two of them.
The Pistons have called Duren’s bluff in a sense but also left room for him to feed his ego by getting a much larger contract than his teammate. The Pistons played this smartly and will hopefully soon have their trio locked up for the foreseeable future.
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