The Detroit Pistons made progress last season by returning to the playoffs and winning their first-round series against the Orlando Magic in seven games. However, their run ended in the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they were defeated by the Cleveland Cavaliers.
After the season, Detroit hoped to make its roster even stronger, but the team now faces an important question surrounding Jalen Duren. The young center remains unsigned, and NBA insider Tim MacMahon has suggested that the contract talks may have become difficult.
Tim MacMahon’s Latest Revelation Regarding Jalen Duren and the Pistons
During a recent episode of “Hoops Collective,” MacMahon discussed the situation between Duren and the Pistons. According to the insider, negotiations between the two sides might have turned “ugly.”
“But the biggest question I have got about the Pistons is what is going to be the lingering cloud when this whole Jalen Duren situation gets finalized or at least temporarily settled. Is he going to sign an extension? I don’t know,” MacMahon said.
“But this has been an awfully nasty negotiation, and so I have got real concerns there because I understand they believe Ausar Thompson is their second-best player, but Jalen Duren was an All-NBA player for them last year,” he added.
“He was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. You can certainly criticize the playoff performance, but he was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. And you know, I don’t know him. I don’t really have a great feel for kind of his temperament or anything like that, but sometimes these negotiations, when they are ugly like this, can have long-lasting consequences,” MacMahon said during the segment.
Duren was picked 13th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the 2022 NBA Draft, but his rights were dealt away on draft night, first landing with the New York Knicks before being flipped again to the Pistons. He officially put pen to paper on his rookie contract with Detroit in 2022 and has been the team’s starting center ever since.
Last season, Duren averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and two assists per game while shooting 65% from the field. For all that production, he made $6,483,144.
That’s exactly why this offseason has turned into such a standoff. Duren and his camp appear to be pushing for a max contract, five years and roughly $287 million, but the Pistons don’t seem ready to hand that over.
Part of the hesitation can be attributed to the playoffs, where Duren’s performance dipped compared to his regular-season form. That drop-off has apparently made Detroit a little more cautious about committing max money to him right now.
If the two sides can’t find common ground, there’s a fallback option on the table. Duren could simply sign the qualifying offer the Pistons have already put in front of him. Doing that wouldn’t lock him into a long-term deal, but it would keep his restricted free agent status intact for next summer.
The catch is that playing under the qualifying offer would pay Duren just $9.6 million for the 2026-27 season, a steep discount from what he’s hoping to earn long term.
For now, nobody knows exactly how this plays out. Whether Duren and the Pistons find a middle ground soon or this drags on into the season remains to be seen.
