With those deals setting the stage for Detroit’s summer business, the most important task was always going to be re-signing 22-year old All-Star center Jalen Duren, but that does not mean it would be an easy, straight-forward task. To the contrary, the big man is looking for a max or near-max deal after having a career year, but the market simply is not dictating that the Pistons will have to pay that price.
When free agency started, Duren held meetings with the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, but those discussions ultimately did not lead anywhere. So, Duren pivoted to a position where he was pushing the Pistons to engage in talks for a sign-and-trade, but Detroit was not interested in that type of move either. Since Duren is a restricted free agency, the Pistons would have had the right to match any offer sheet he signed on the open market with the cap space to do so, but Detroit was never put in that position.
So, alongside other RFAs such as Bennedict Mathurin and Jonathan Kuminga, but JD headlines that group as an All-NBA Third Team member last season. DeMar DeRozan recently inked a deal with the Denver Nuggets or else he would’ve been included in that list as well, but that trio represent the few remaining big names on the market.
Taking the NBA’s most recent Collective Bargaining Agreement into consideration with the first and second apron restrictions, most teams across the league did not have the cap room to act as big spenders this offseason. Because of that reality, Duren missed out on the lucrative free agency market that he most likely anticipated, so his leverage in negotiating with the Pistons is weaker than it otherwise would have been.
Regarding recent media reports discussing the impact of CBA rules on team bids for restricted free agents: Of this year's 12 RFAs, two changed teams via sign-and-trade, the most since 2021; two signed offer sheets with new teams, tied for the most since 2018; and six agreed to…— NBA Communications (@NBAPR)In response to the narrative that the new CBA actually restricted teams from paying players, the NBA put out a message to refute that assertion. In a sense, the league is contending that players are utilizing more avenues than usual when it comes to working out their new contracts, and the dragged out timeline in some circumstances is a byproduct of this phenomenon. However, opponents of this thought process would suggest that more players are forced to explore new situations because teams have less money at their disposal to use during free agency as a result of the CBA, so both arguments carry a bit of credence.
In Duren’s situation, the big man essentially gambled on another team offering a max contract at the start of free agency, which would then force the Pistons to match since they intended to keep the All-Star in the Motor City. At that point, JD could re-sign with Detroit without feeling like he left money on the table, but instead we’re left with a contract negotiation that is dragging into its third month now with training camp set to begin later next month.
Of course, Duren is free to sign his qualifying offer from Detroit in the meantime, but that would likely be a poison pill regarding his time in Motown.
