If Jalen Duren accepts his $9.6 million qualifying offer, it'd be his way of bidding an early goodbye to the Detroit Pistons, setting him up to sign a long-term deal with another team next summer. The team he's been connected to most is the Kings, but there is no guarantee that Sacramento would be willing to give him a four-year, $189 million deal in free agency.
We know the Kings have what The Athletic called "serious interest" (subscription required) in the center, and Duren met with Sacramento at the start of free agency. The team's GM, Scott Perry, was the Knicks' GM in 2022, when New York acquired the center on draft night before sending him to Detroit. Perry wanted the team to keep Duren.
Just because the Kings are, and have been, interested in Duren doesn't mean that won't change by next summer, unless the Pistons try to trade him before then, after he accepts his qualifying offer.
Duren-Pistons saga could serve as a cautionary tale
Detroit and Duren have been at odds over the entirety of the offseason. He wanted the five-year, $287 million max he was eligible for after making All-NBA, but understandably, the Pistons weren't willing to do that.
The team recently raised its offer from $190 million over five years to $200 million, which is the range Duren was aiming for, knowing he wouldn't get the max. That still wasn't enough for the center to re-sign. Yes, adding the weight clause probably did Detroit no favors, but that's still a lot of money to turn down.
The Pistons haven't handled Duren's situation well, but it seems the center's ego hasn't made things any easier, either. Given how messy this has been (and it could get even worse), the Kings may think twice about investing so much in the center who could turn on them if he doesn't get what he wants.
Kings are already plagued by bad contracts
Sacramento isn't known for making business-savvy moves, as shown by its current situation with Domantas Sabonis. He's overpaid — he'll make $45.5 million this upcoming season and $48.6 million in 2027-28. There's also Zach LaVine, who signed his current contract with the Bulls, but the Kings thought it was a good idea to trade for him. He picked up his $48.9 million player option for 2026-27.
NBA insider Jake Fischer recently said on a Bleacher Report livestream that, based on what he's heard from people around the league, the belief is that Sabonis doesn't have positive trade value, meaning that a team would expect assets from the Kings if they traded for him. Sacramento doesn't want to do that, at least not yet.
It would make sense for the Kings to offer Duren a max next summer (or something close to it), based on other decisions that they've made, but if they were to take a long look in the mirror, maybe they would see it as a move that could set them back when they desperately need to get their future on track.
A lot of that could depend on how Duren looks this season (and whether he doesn't shy away in the playoffs again if he stays in Detroit) and whether Sacramento can offload Sabonis' contract before the offseason.
Banking on yourself in restricted free agency and taking the qualifying offer is always risky, but for Duren, it's even riskier because of the money he's already turned down. If he does just that, relying on the Kings, of all teams, to give him a bag next summer, that'd only add another layer of risk to an already delicate situation.
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