Victor Wembanyama has officially struck fear in the rest of the NBA as teams search for an answer to the mismatch problem he poses.
At 7-foot-4, with the offensive skillset of a guard and a Defensive Player of the Year award freshly added to his trophy case, the generational talent has become the unsolved puzzle every team in the league is searching to find an answer for this offseason.
Wemby has even sent the reigning NBA Champions back to the drawing board after seemingly exposing Chet Holmgren's biggest flaws.
As for the Detroit Pistons, you can add them to the mix of the teams searching for a solution that could help them overcome the French obstacle, but to find an answer, they'll have to come to terms with the massive offseason question that's already plaguing them.
The question? Whether or not Jalen Duren should be part of the team's long-term future.
And while there's an argument for both sides of the looming Duren decision, Wembanyama may have just given the Pistons the answer they've been searching for without even trying.
Pistons need to think ahead in Jalen Duren negotiations
Jalen Duren's All-NBA regular-season made him supermax eligible, but his contract dreams came crashing down after his postseason showing.
The playoff run for Duren on its own was concerning, but given it came against mid-tier big men like Wendell Carter Jr., and Jarrett Allen adds even more concern.
If Duren couldn't rise to the occasion against Eastern Conference bigs, there's no way Detroit can expect that he'd be able to contain Wembanyama if they ever made it over the hump to return to the NBA Finals.
And while J.B. Bickerstaff has a DPOY candidate of his own in Ausar Thompson, the idea that the forward could stop a big man who's nearly a foot taller is just as absurd.
Duren isn't the dominant big that can help Detroit take down a Wemby-led Spurs, and that's okay. That doesn't mean the Pistons shouldn't bring the 22-year-old back.
However, under no circumstance can Trajan Langdon validate inking Duren to a massive deal and costing himself the much-needed financial resources that could help position them to challenge Wembanyama or any of the other top Western Conference contenders in the future.
Duren needs to meet Detroit halfway or find a max elsewhere
The ideal scenario for this offseason is Duren coming to terms with the reality that meeting the Pistons halfway is best for both sides.
If the big man hopes to help his team prepare to overcome the challenge Wembanyama poses for nearly every team in the league, he'll have to forfeit his supermax dreams and give the Pistons the flexibility they need to find an answer of their own.
If Duren still expects to play hardball with Detroit's front office, the best option would be to let him walk and find a deal elsewhere.
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