Jalen Duren and the Detroit Pistons have not reached an extension agreement this offseason and they may not, as there seems to be a disconnect between what Duren’s camp wants and what Detroit is willing to offer, a problem that is not going away.
In many ways, Duren is one of the easiest of the Pistons’ young players to evaluate, but the real debate comes with what kind of dollar value to attach to those skills.
Duren has plenty going in his favor, as he is still very young (21), already averages a double-double and showed signs of improvement in key areas, namely defense, in the latter part of last season.
But Duren is going to look around the league and point to other centers who have signed massive deals and expect the same, and it’s up to the Pistons to decide if he is worth that, which is where things get sticky.
Should a good team invest in a player who can’t shoot? The Pistons need to decide
I’ve written about the Duren deal and how it is connected to Ausar Thompson, as the Pistons have to decide if the two can co-exist as two starters who don’t even look to shoot the ball from the outside.
Duren is already an elite rebounder, but there is little chance he’s ever going to be a shooter, and there are questions about whether you want your best roll man constantly moving into the space of your best cutter.
Duren’s offensive limitations are troublesome, but not nearly as much as his defense, which did start to improve last season, a trend that will have to continue, as he’s still not consistently active or engaged around the rim and still struggles in pick-and-roll situations.
Modern bigs must be able to protect the rim and switch on defense at the very least, and if they can shoot the ball from the outside, even better. Right now Duren doesn’t do any of those things at an elite level, so how much is that really worth?
Duren is likely to demand somewhere in the $25-30 million per season range and the Pistons are likely to point to someone like Ivica Zubac and say, “He makes $18 million a year and is a lot better than you.”
The Pistons could offer a shorter deal at higher rate, but it’s difficult for me to see them offering up the kind of extension that will make Duren happy. You know a negotiation has worked when everyone leaves angry, so it’s possible the Pistons and Duren will meet somewhere in the middle, and no one will like the number.
But the Pistons have to be careful here, as they can’t shell out a huge part of their cap space for a guy whose skillset could potentially be duplicated for far less.