Victor Wembanyama contract should be a reality check for Jalen Duren

The Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren have hit a wall in contract negotiations, and neither side seems willing to blink. 

The Pistons have all of the leverage here, as there isn’t another team willing or able to make Duren a max offer, and he was unable to drum up a sign-and-trade opportunity Detroit would consider. 

The Pistons gained even more leverage last night when Shams Charania announced that Victor Wembanyama had signed a 5-year, $252 million early extension to stay with the Spurs. 

The interesting part of the deal is that Wembanyama actually took less than the 30 percent supermax he was eligible for, taking 25 percent and instead getting a player option at the end of the deal. 

Jalen Duren should probably be taking notes. 

Jalen Duren is not in the same tier as Wembanyama...not even close 

If you are keeping score at home, the contract Wembanyama, who is the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and who will likely win multiple MVP awards very soon in his career, the guy who every single team in the NBA would choose as the player to start their franchise, just signed is roughly the same one that Jalen Duren is trying to get out of the Pistons. 

Let’s be completely frank here, Duren is a good player but he’s not at Wembanyama’s level or anywhere close. Wemby is possibly the most disruptive defensive player I’ve ever watched and just took his team to the Finals while Duren was getting outplayed by Wendell Carter Jr. and Paul Reed. 

This is not a knock on Duren, as I do think fans should be a bit more excited about having him back, but there is no world where he should be making anywhere near what Wembanyama is making. 

Wembanyama just sacrificed for his team 

One thing I love about Wembanyama is that he wants to be great and he wants to win titles. He just saved his team $50 million over the course of his contract, when he could have easily squeezed them for every penny. 

He knows he’ll get it back eventually, and that titles bring the kind of notoriety and wealth that you can’t get just by being great. 

He also knows that he’s not going to do it on his own, so just gave his team a tad more flexibility to keep his roster together and ensure they can chase titles for years to come. 

Jalen Duren should take note of that, as taking a bit less now would pay off huge if the Pistons were to win a title. 

The Pistons just picked up a big negotiating chip here, as Duren can’t possibly think he deserves as much as Wembanyama. Let’s hope this speeds up the process and helps get Duren’s deal across the finish line. 

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