The Detroit Pistons were one of the best teams in basketball this season. They were the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but in the playoffs, they fell short. Now, they’ll be heading into next season with what are undoubtedly championship expectations, but they still need to iron out the Jalen Duren situation. And according to a front office member who spoke with Keith Smith of Spotrac, they are still determined to bring him back.
“We very clearly want Jalen back with us for next year and beyond. If we didn’t, we could have easily done several different sign-and-trade deals,” a Pistons front office executive told Smith. “But the numbers have to be right. You saw what’s happened with Boston and OKC and New York. We don’t want to have to shed talent around Cade (Cunningham) and Jalen a year or two from now.”
The Pistons are being careful not to overpay Duren, but they absolutely want him back in Detroit next season.
Pistons could have traded Jalen Duren by now but didn't
Duren and the Pistons have been negotiating on a new contract extension for weeks now. The 22-year-old big man is a restricted free agent, and things haven’t exactly gone smoothly for him.
Earlier in the summer, there were reports that Duren might actually want to leave the Pistons. He supposedly had meetings with the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, but nothing ever came to be.
After the All-NBA Third Team season he just had, it’s likely that Duren wants a max contract, or something close to it. However, the Pistons need to be careful about how much they give Duren.
As the front office executive noted, teams are being destroyed by the second apron. The Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder have had to sell pieces in the last two years, and the New York Knicks could be next.
The most interesting part about the quote is the tidbit about a potential sign-and-trade. That, if the Pistons didn’t want Duren back, they could have completed a sign-and-trade by now.
That means there were potential sign-and-trades on the table. That Duren was at least okay with leaving Detroit. And that’s a sign of just how far apart the two sides may actually be in negotiations.
Unfortunately for the Pistons, in their (understandable) quest to avoid having to dump a bunch of contracts in the next few years, they may be upsetting one of the guys who is supposed to be a building block for the franchise.
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