Pistons and Lakers could be eyeing each other's free agents

Both the Detroit Pistons and Los Angeles Lakers will have key free agents this summer that the other team would love to get their hands on in Jalen Duren and Austin Reaves. 

Duren will be a restricted free agent next summer, while Reaves has a player option that he will almost certainly decline after he was having an All-Star-type season before getting hurt. 

Duren did make the All-Star team, so the Pistons’ decision not to extend him last summer is going to cost them money, as he may jump into max range. In fact, the Pistons may be forced to give Duren a max deal, because if they don’t, someone else almost certainly will. 

The Lakers have long been looking for a center, and Duren has shown he’s the perfect fit as a lob threat and pick-and-roll guy with a big playmaker like Cade Cunningham, which LA happens to have in Luka Doncic. 

Duren is only a restricted free agent, so the Pistons aren’t at risk of losing him, as they can match any offer sheet he is given, but if I were one of these other teams and really wanted Duren (hello, Chicago Bulls), I may throw a max offer at him just to make the Pistons match it. 

If Detroit decided not to, great, you’ve got your center of the future, but if they do, at least you’ve made them pay top dollar for their center. 

It’s hard to imagine Duren on any team other than the Pistons, as he and Cade are best friends, and he and Stewart have started the Dawg Pound, which seems more like some kind of brotherhood than a friendship. 

I’d bet that Duren is in Detroit next season, but what about Austin Reaves? 

Could the Pistons make a move for Austin Reaves? 

Like Duren, Reaves will be getting a huge raise next season one way or another. 

He’ll likely decline his $14 million player option and test the waters of free agency, where he is sure to garner plenty of interest. 

Some of that may come from the Pistons, as Reaves’ scoring and playmaking are exactly what they need next to Cade Cunnigham. Reaves has averaged 25 points and six assists this season on strong shooting splits, so he’d be a nice fit. 

Getting him is a different story though, as Reaves will be seeking a max deal that pays upwards of $35-40 million per season. The Pistons aren’t likely to have that kind of cap space to use, and even if they did, would have to think twice about it with Ausar Thompson due for a raise in the offseason after this one. 

It would take some roster moves for the Pistons to pull it off, so it’s a long shot, but one that can’t be ruled out, especially if Trajan Langdon decides another scorer is the final piece to winning a title. 

The Pistons and Lakers will be eyeballing each other’s free agents this summer, as each guy is exactly what the other team needs.