Jalen Duren is currently holding out for more money from the Detroit Pistons, and if he wants to know how this could backfire, he needs to look no further than his former teammate Dennis Schroder.
Duren is reportedly seeking upwards of $40 million a year while the Pistons have offered around $35, a gap that is not that sizable but tells you exactly what Detroit values, which is Duren’s performance in the playoffs.
The easy answer would be to just meet in the middle somewhere, but the Pistons have no reason to give in and are trying to keep Duren’s salary below the 25 percent threshold so that they have enough money to extend Ausar Thompson and still be able to put together a team.
Duren has the nuclear option of the qualifying offer, which he could use to make himself an unrestricted free agent after next season.
And there is reportedly a lifeline in the form of a possible max offer from the Kings if Duren does eventually reach free agency.
But I’ll say this to Duren as plainly as possible (not that he’s reading this): If you do not take this money now, you will regret it. Just ask your old buddy, Dennis.
Dennis Schroder lived to regret his decision and so will Jalen Duren
If Duren wants to see how this can blow up in his face, just do a search for “Dennis Schroder, 84 million” and he’ll get his cautionary tale.
Back in 2021, Schroder was traded to the Lakers, who immediately offered him a lucrative extension for 4 years and $84 million. Schroder turned it down, thinking he’d be able to bag more in free agency after a strong playoff run with LA.
Guess what happened instead.
Schroder stunk in the playoffs and the big offer he was hoping for never came. He ended up settling for a one-year deal for just over $6 million and has never come close to getting that kind of offer again.
The idiot Kings only gave him $15 million a year, so even though he is still very rich, Schroder left a TON of money on the table by not taking that deal when he could.
Duren is in the exact same position, as he can’t really gain from not taking this deal, but he can certainly lose. In the best-case scenario for Duren, he takes the qualifying offer, has a monster season, and then someone offers him a full max.
Even if that happened, he would still only break even financially, so there is literally nothing to gain here except the ego of seeing your name and “max deal” in the same sentence.
Duren has plenty to lose though, as a subpar season or injury would put him in the exact same position as Schroder was back in 2021.
Players who turn down generational wealth to chase more almost always regret it. Ask Dennis Schroder. Ask Jonathan Kuminga. Ask Nerlens Noel. Ask DeMarcus Cousins. And the list goes on and on.
The only player I can think of who benefitted from taking the QO recently is Quentin Grimes, but he didn’t have nearly as much at risk as Duren, so the roll of the dice was worth it.
If Duren wants to be a cautionary tale for other players, by all means, hold out through training camp and see how that goes for you, but don’t be surprised when that massive offer suddenly disappears and never comes back.
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