Jalen Duren's rough postseason stretch has created some obvious questions ahead of the offseason.
The big man's breakout regular season made him seem like a lock to ink a supermax extension this offseason, and although it would have put the Detroit Pistons in a tough financial situation, the long-term commitment to the frontcourt star would have been well worth the risk.
However, the playoff collapse from the 22-year-old now puts him at risk of becoming one of the first young players in the league to be supermax eligible and not only miss out on a supermax extension, but also miss out on a max extension as a whole
According to Zach Lowe, Duren could be on track to set a new precedent in the worst way possible.
Jalen Duren may not even receive a max extension from Pistons
Lowe pointed out the obvious downfall for Duren since the postseason began, and after being benched in the fourth quarter in favor of Paul Reed in Game 5, it's hard to ignore the pending offseason decision for the Pistons.
"No extension was reached. He's [Duren] restricted," Lowe pointed out.
"And if he makes All-NBA, he's going to be supermax-eligible, which is going to be as I've said before, I don't think we've ever had a player in this age range, like coming off a rookie scale that was eligible for the bump and not only didn't get it, but his team was like, we're just going to ignore that completely because we don't think you're worth the supermax."
Detroit will have a hard time making that decision, especially considering they likely don't want to give up on a young player who just posted an extremely solid season, but it's also tough for them to make a monster financial commitment to a player whose playoff reputation is not in good standing right now.
The only good news for Detroit, is they likely won't have to do much of the lifting in extension talks.
Restricted free agency will help Pistons determine value on Duren
Allowing Duren to talk to other teams in restricted free agency is a dangerous game for sure, and there's no telling if Detroit will let it get to that point.
If they do, though, opposing teams' offers for Duren will allow them to determine just how much his value is on the open market.
The Pistons could use outside offers to determine if they want to ink the big man to a long-term deal, and if not, they could use opposing offers to land value in an offseason move one way or another.
Then again, Detroit could ignore the outside noise and lock down Duren regardless of his postseason play.
It's hard to know exactly which way things are leaning, but as time goes on, things will be cleared up soon.
Regardless, the harsh reality of the situation is that the Pistons have a major decision on the horizon.
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