It's media day for the Detroit Pistons, and if they had their way, Jalen Duren would be in attendance (he'll still be a hot topic), entering the 2026-27 season on a new multi-year deal. That's not what will happen, though, with the center most recently turning down a five-year, $200 million fully guaranteed deal that included weight stipulations his camp didn't like. The front office shouldn't put more money on the table, hoping to sway him from accepting his $9.6 million qualifying offer.
Duren is eligible to sign a five-year, $287 million max extension, a contract that he wasn't going to get after his numbers dropped in the playoffs. Detroit has done more than enough by upping its offer to $200 million, which, even with the controversial weight clause, was wild for the center to pass up.
Even if the Pistons increase their latest offer, Duren still seems unlikely to accept it, since he appears to want to leave Detroit. Sam Amick of The Athletic reported on Sunday that the "perceived disrespect with how the Pistons have handled the process is a significant factor in his holdout," which is even more reason to believe it's really not just about the money (subscription required).
It sure doesn't sound like more money is the solution, but if the Pistons are thinking about throwing a Hail Mary before the Oct. 1 buzzer sounds, they should think twice.
Pistons have already offered Duren enough
Detroit hasn't handled things well on its end, but that doesn't mean the front office should have given him the max, banking on his continued development after a breakout regular season. If that's what Duren's camp entered the offseason wanting — unwilling to take less — then there was no hope for negotiations to begin with.
What the Pistons can try to do between now and the qualifying offer deadline is to remove the weight stipulations from the latest offer to Duren, though the damage from doing so may already be done. But it's worth a shot, more so than upping their latest offer by a few million.
Detroit hasn't been willing to engage in sign-and-trade talks with other teams, so it's not like the Pistons upped their $190 million offer to $200 million to ward off competition. That is, unless you count the Kings as competition, since Duren seems intent on making his way to Sacramento on a max contract next summer.
You would think offering an average annual salary would be enough to push things across the finish line at long last. That was Detroit doing more than it should have to try to appease Duren. In today's CBA world, with the tax apron penalties, the Pistons have to be more careful than ever about how they structure their future, even more so since they're trying to build a championship team (and they still haven't gotten a co-star for Cade Cunningham).
Duren playing out the season on the qualifying offer would hurt Detroit, but either way, it will be a distraction; the tension won't magically simmer down with a long-term deal. At this point, the Pistons should view their $200 million offer to the center as a take-it-or-leave-it kind of deal. It's enough.
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