Jalen Duren drama threatens to erase the Pistons' 2022 Draft

The 2022 NBA Draft was a mixed bag for the Pistons, as they walked away with one of the steals, but also one of the busts. 

The Pistons took Jaden Ivey with the 5th pick, which is one they’d love to have back, as Ivey is now out of the league and looking for a job after Detroit had to give him away for Kevin Huerter and a pick swap. 

The top 10 of that draft was full of players who haven’t yet lived up to the hype or who are out of the league altogether in Keegan Murray, Jaden Ivey, Bennedict Mathurin, Jeremy Sochan and Johnny Davis. 

The Pistons did well to get Duren with the 13th pick, and in hindsight, he might go in the top 5 if we did that draft again. 

But with Duren’s status still in limbo, the Pistons could end up walking away from the 2022 draft with a completely different group of players. 

The Jaden Ivey trade payoff is still pending 

The Pistons ended up bringing Huerter back as a free agent, so it’s clear they considered him more than just matching salary in the Ivey trade.  

The pick swap they received from Minnesota eventually turned into Ebuka Okorie, so if he ends up being a contributor, the Ivey trade will suddenly look like a decent haul for the Pistons when you consider the context and his trade value at the time. 

Ivey is gone, and the Pistons have Huerter and Okorie to show for it, but that certainly wasn’t the plan when Detroit selected Ivey with the 5th pick. 

Jalen Duren could still be traded 

If I had to bet right now, I’d say that Jalen Duren will be back with the Pistons next season, but I am far less certain than I was at the beginning of the summer. 

Part of me says this is just business, with Duren and his agent doing their due diligence to get him as much money as possible, but some of this does seem personal, as the Pistons didn’t extend Duren last offseason, only for him to go out and do exactly what they wanted, just to get undersold again. 

You can understand why he thinks he deserves a max deal, but you can also understand why the Pistons can’t give him one. Neither can anyone else without a sign-and-trade, so that remains an option as a last resort. 

It’s still hard to see it happening, but if it does, that would mean the Pistons would no longer employ any of the players they took in the 2022 draft, two guys who were supposed to be parts of the long-term core. 

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