The Jazz made a wise move this offseason to flip Walker Kessler for a slew of draft picks, but that trade tanked their center depth. With Kessler gone, Utah's starting spot in the middle went to Jusuf Nurkic, who suffered a foot injury in the team's preseason opener that will keep him sidelined for at least 4 weeks. If the Pistons had decided to trade away Duren, they could have been in a similar precarious spot as the Jazz before Nurkic's injury, which Detroit can't afford with their playoff ambitions.
The Pistons made the right call on Jalen Duren in the end
For the Jazz, Nurkic's injury doesn't have to be a death knell even if he misses further extended time. They have Jaren Jackson Jr. as a power forward that can slide up to the center spot, but more importantly, the Jazz don't have hopes of a deep playoff run yet. The Pistons are in a completely different boat, as they are looking to build a title contender around Cade Cunningham as he enters his prime.
As a result, Detroit was eventually forced to pay up for Jalen Duren after a lengthy contract negotiation. The final deal came in at 5 years and $200 million, reportedly more than where the Pistons started their offers this summer. But Duren is a vital part of the Pistons' core that's hard to replace on the depth chart, so the Pistons needed to bring him back.
Hopefully, Duren can continue his development this season into a proper second star. But even if he can't, the Pistons don't have the time to waste with a weak center rotation like the Jazz do. Their current backup option, Paul Reed, has thrived in rare starting opportunities before but never faced the pressure of being a full-time starter in Detroit. Beyond Reed, the rotation is understandably shallow and would have left the Pistons with a very weak position if Duren hadn't re-signed.
Detroit doesn't have the frontcourt flexibility of Utah either
Another important note that makes Nurkic's injury less devastating is Utah's size at the forward spots. They were originally planning to start the 6'10" Jackson and 7'1" Lauri Markkanen alongside Nurkic, so they still have enough size even with Nurkic out. Neither of those two are the strongest rebounders, but Utah can still get by in the meantime.
The Pistons don't have the same optionality across their roster. Their starting forwards this season will be 6'7" Ausar Thompson and 6'9" John Collins; neither should be playing extended center minutes. So a Duren trade would have left them dry with Reed and a backup in Tolu Smith, completely destroying the center advantage in Detroit from last season.
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