Jalen Duren never said he's worth more than Ausar Thompson

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, Detroit Pistons big man Jalen Duren believes that he’s worth more than the Thompson twins: Amen and Ausar Thompson. That makes a bit of sense. Duren was an All-Star and an All-NBA Third Teamer last season. For it to be publicly reported that you supposedly believe you’re worth more than your teammate isn’t a great look. But that’s not what happened.

Here is exactly what Amick wrote in his article: “For Duren, it’s quite clear he sees his value in a higher tier than both twins considering last regular-season’s accolades.” That tidbit is being aggregated as if Duren publicly stated that he’s worth more than the Thompson twins. That’s not at all the case.

Instead, it sounds like Amick is simply speculating based on the contracts Duren hasn’t accepted.

Despite aggregation, Jalen Duren never said he's worth more than Ausar Thompson

Amick reported that the Pistons recently upped their offer to Duren from a five-year, $190 million contract to a five-year, $200 million contract. That’s $40 million in average annual value.

If Duren hasn’t accepted that offer, then it can certainly be inferred that he believes he’s worth more than the $31 million in AAV Ausar Thompson got on his new, five-year, $155 million contract.

It doesn’t necessarily mean the same for Amen Thompson’s five-year, $208 million deal with the Houston Rockets, but it’s getting there.

Realistically, at this point, it seems like Duren is just upset. Maybe it’s not about the money. He may just be hesitant to sign on board with the Pistons at all after this summer of drama.

But back to the point of this article: Duren is being painted in a bad light. He never said that he’s worth more than the Thompson twins. He never took a shot at his teammate.

A lot of the aggregate accounts on social media are putting out Amick’s reporting and framing it as if it was blatantly stated that Duren believes he is worth more than the Thompsons.

In reality, Amick was speculating. He was making an inference based on reporting regarding Duren’s contract negotiations. He said “it’s quite clear,” not “Duren believes this.”

And again, Amick is probably inferring correctly. But everyone is going to think that Duren made it known that he thinks he’s worth more than his teammate. That’s simply not the case.

So, before questioning Duren’s decision to do such a thing, make sure to know all the information. Because all of this aggregation is nothing more than a reporter speculating and making an inference.

Duren never said he’s worth more than Ausar Thompson.

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