Jalen Duren’s long contract holdout has put the Pistons in a nearly unprecedented situation within the NBA, but NFL teams often find themselves in the same position. At this very moment, the Steelers are experiencing a similar contact dispute with star cornerback Joey Porter Jr.
The situation isn’t exactly the same, since Porter has been working his way back from an injury. But his displeasure with stalled contract negotiations during the offseason was obvious, and it’s led him to miss almost a quarter of the NFL season so far.
Duren is threatening an NFL-esque holdout
Obviously, this is a worst-case scenario that the Pistons absolutely cannot reach with Duren. Typically, it would be absolutely unfounded to even consider an NBA player sitting out of actual games over a contract dispute. But Duren has proven that he’s willing to do things differently this offseason.
His agent is also known more for his NFL clients than his NBA guys (which only consists of Duren and Houston’s Tari Eason). So Duren could be receiving guidance from a source that doesn’t consider it ridiculous to sit out of training camp or even games to get a contract settled.
The Pistons can’t afford their own Porter situation
At least in the case of Joey Porter Jr, the Steelers have been able to put together some wins without him. They’ve also started to get some trade offers for him despite his ongoing holdout. The Pistons would love to get some strong trade offers for Duren, but they’re unlikely to get any worthwhile ones from teams with the cap space to extend him.
And the Pistons will probably be even more affected by Duren’s absence than the Steelers have felt Porter’s absence. It just comes down to a numbers game, since there are only 5 players on a basketball court and Duren was slotted to be the team’s secondary scorer. Going into the season without him will place way too much pressure on Cade Cunningham and company to make up the points and rebounds elsewhere.
Even skipping media day has been extremely rare for NBA players. Now, Duren seems willing to take it multiple steps farther as long as it helps him get the contract he wants. Whether that means he’ll skip training camp or even the start of the regular season, the Pistons seem to be at his mercy right now.
Detroit was probably unprepared for their young star center to take this approach, but they now need to adapt. Sadly, they might have to get creative if they want to avoid a rare level of NBA holdout.
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