The Detroit Pistons do not want to be the next Sacramento Kings.
After a league-leading playoff drought was finally ended, the present and future looked bright for the Kings, especially after they made the 3-seed in the Western Conference just two seasons ago, but in true Kings’ fashion, they undid it almost immediately and are back to a dysfunctional mess.
The Kings made bad trades and compounded them with bad extensions and are now reportedly shopping their best player, a flawed center in Domantas Sabonis, who will make $43, 46 and 49 million over the next three seasons.
Sabonis is an elite offensive player who averages 19 points per game and just led the league in rebounding at nearly 14 per. He also adds six assists while shooting a high percentage from 3-point range, so there is no doubt Sabonis can play on that end.
But he’s not a rim protector, something that has been brought up time and time again, so isn’t the type of two-way player who is going to anchor a defense. He puts a lot of pressure on the perimeter defenders and is probably best playing with another big who can protect the rim.
That didn’t stop the Kings from giving him that massive extension, a number that will now be hard for them to trade even with Sabonis’ offensive brilliance.
The Pistons just broke a playoff drought of their own and hope not to follow the Kings’ model of destroying it as soon as things start to turn around.
The Detroit Pistons have to be careful with the Jalen Duren extension
The Pistons have a flawed center of their own in Jalen Duren, who did improve this season and has shown an ability to rebound and pass that is reminiscent of Sabonis. Duren doesn’t have his shot and may never, so even though Duren was drafted as more of an offensive prospect, it’s doubtful he ever gets to Sabonis’ level on that end.
Duren is also flawed defensively, though his rim protection did improve this season and he has the athleticism to be good on that end, which should be his focus. But Duren had to be switched off Karl Anthony-Towns in the playoffs, so like Sabonis, there are big questions about whether he can anchor a defense.
There are myriad differences between the two, but the main similarity is that they are flawed players that are tough to build a defense around.
That’s why the Pistons must be careful with Duren’s extension this summer, as they can’t give him a deal that may be difficult to move in the future. There aren’t many teams that want to trade for a flawed center on a max deal, and even though Duren’s number won’t be as high as Sabonis’, it’s still something to consider.
The Pistons may mitigate this risk by forgoing an extension and just letting Duren play out his contract to become a restricted free agent, but if they do extend him this summer, the Pistons need to play hardball and keep Duren’s number manageable.
It only takes one or two bad moves to undo success, ask the Kings, who were the darlings of the league back in 2022-23, the same way the Pistons were this season, but are now wondering if they have to break up their roster again.