The end of the offseason is almost here, and the Detroit Pistons haven't reached an agreement with Jalen Duren. Not only has every other restricted free agent sorted out their situations, but the league has even announced penalties for the Clippers and Kawhi Leonard for circumventing the salary cap. Literally, nearly everything has happened except for the Duren news.
Next up for the Clippers is completing their Leonard trade with the Raptors, which has already been agreed to, but Toronto put it on hold in July until the investigation's results were released. As Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported, Los Angeles is sorting out its front office following suspensions before proceeding with the trade, which is still expected to happen.
And you know what? That could all happen before the Pistons and Duren end their stalemate, which would put even more attention on what's become the longest saga of the summer.
Kawhi trade could happen before Duren agrees to new deal
There is no guarantee that Detroit and Duren will see eye-to-eye and agree to a new contract before the season starts, as he has until Oct. 1 to accept his $9.6 million qualifying offer.
Duren could do that and become an unrestricted free agent next summer, or the Pistons could agree to a sign-and-trade that sends the center to a new team. That'd be challenging, and anyway, the team hasn't been willing to pursue that route at all this offseason. Their stance has been that they want to retain him, but they haven't been willing to pay him the $40 million average annual salary he wants.
Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported that the Pistons offered Duren a five-year deal with an average annual value of $35 million, but clearly, that wasn't enough to move the center. Perhaps the two sides will meet in the middle, but it's not reassuring that it's taken this long and that it hasn't happened.
Pressure is already mounting to get something done, since camps will open soon, and the Pistons don't want this to be a distraction. Just like the Clippers and Raptors didn't want the Kawhi saga to play out the same way, but at least they've gotten clarity on that situation. Wouldn't it be nice to experience that with Duren?
Except for the Duren's RFA and the Leonard trade, all of the major to-dos have been checked off the NBA offseason list. The expectation is that the latter is on the horizon; if only we could say the same about the former.
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