Jalen Duren's contract situation with the Detroit Pistons may be the most unpredictable part of the team's offseason.
After betting on himself ahead of the season, the big man chose to chase supermax money ahead of restricted free agency.
Initially, Duren's 82-game regular season campaign made the former first-round pick's risky decision seem well worth the reward, especially after landing on the All-NBA Third Team that deemed him eligible for the supermax extension he was betting on.
Fast forward to the playoffs, Duren's postseason run took the leverage in contract negotiations out of his hand and directly placed it back in the possession of the front office.
Now, Duren could be headed towards a contract offer that not only insults him, but also makes him regret chasing a max extension.
Marc Stein suggests Pistons may lowball Jalen Duren
In a recent episode of the All NBA Podcast, NBA Insider Marc Stein discussed the looming contract negotiations between Duren and the Pistons.
"I don't think it's going to go that pleasant," Stein said about the team's contract talks with Duren. "I'd love to be a fly on the wall for how that one goes."
Stein essentially noted that Duren bet on himself by electing to decline the rookie-scale extension ahead of opening night, and after his All-NBA nod, it seemed to have worked out in his favor.
At the same time, it seemed like a direct shot that Stein noted Duren made the All-NBA team only due to the amount of injuries in the NBA this season, and that alone makes it feel like Detroit could completely ignore the All-NBA honors altogether in any discussions.
Obviously, Detroit will make a respectable offer to Duren, and if it's anywhere in the range that salary cap guru Keith Smith suggested it could be, the big man will likely have earned himself a much higher payday than he would've received had he inked an extension before the season.
Still, whatever the team offers the big man will likely be a slap in the face to Duren and only make him regret getting his hopes up.
Duren is NOT getting a supermax extension
If it's not obvious by now, it seems all but confirmed that Detroit won't offer Duren the five-year, $287.1 million supermax extension he's eligible for this offseason.
All that to say, the 22-year-old's strong regular season play likely got his hopes up for a massive payday this offseason, and while the hypothetical $37 million offer Smith suggested isn't disrespectful to the average person, for a player who felt he all but secured an average salary of $57 million, it's going to be a massive disappointment.
At the end of the day, though, Duren has nobody to blame but himself for his poor playoff run.
The Pistons likely paid more attention to what the big man produced when it mattered most during the postseason, instead of what he offered during the regular season, and all signs point to the front office making that clear when they put forth an offer this summer.
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