Several premier big men have already secured their futures this offseason. Mitchell Robinson, Al Horford, Walker Kessler and Isaiah Hartenstein all got their deals done, with Kessler signing the biggest AAV around $32.2 million. But there is another 22-year-old center that remains locked in a tense contract situation, despite earning All-NBA honors last season.
The standoff involving Jalen Duren and the Detroit Pistons has reportedly become more serious than expected. ESPN’s Tim McMahon described the situation as “an awfully nasty negotiation” and suggested it could have “long-lasting consequences.” Still, NBA insider Jake Fischer does not appear overly concerned about a split between Duren and Detroit.
Fischer expects the two sides to eventually find common ground, although he does not believe the Pistons center will receive the maximum contract many initially anticipated.
“I talked to someone today with some level of knowledge of the situation who still believes that he’s on track for a four-year $160 million deal, something in the $40,000,000 AAV range,” Fischer said during a live stream on Bleacher Report. “He’s clearly going to want some type of money closer to what Walker Kessler got than what Mitchell Robinson got, just to use two linchpins of the center market from this summer. But I think when all things are said and done and he makes life-changing money, I do see an opportunity for this to get mended.”
That projection would still make Duren one of the better-paid centers in the league. More importantly, it suggests the current tension may ultimately be about finding the right number rather than forcing a breakup between the player and the franchise.
However, the gap between the deal Duren could have received and the figure now being discussed is significant. Spotrac analyst Keith Smith explained the impact of Duren’s All-NBA selection back in May. By earning the honor, Duren became eligible for a five-year maximum extension, with Detroit projected to be worth $287.1 million. The deal would have started at $49.5 million in 2026-27 and climbed to $65.3 million by 2030-31.
Before his All-NBA selection, Duren’s maximum extension with Detroit was projected at $239.3 million over five years. A maximum contract with another team was projected at $177.4 million over four years.
That makes the current situation particularly fascinating. If Duren ultimately signs the roughly $160 million deal Fischer expects, he would be accepting about $127 million less than the $287.1 million maximum he became eligible for with Detroit.
In simple terms, Duren could be walking away from more than $100 million in potential earnings. For a 22-year-old coming off an All-NBA season, that is an enormous amount of money. Yet the situation may not be headed toward an ugly divorce.
Why won’t Duren earn the max NBA extension?
For some time, Duren’s standoff with the Pistons has been attributed to his teammates’ upcoming contracts. ESPN’s Bobby Marks noted that Ausar Thompson could be in line for a sizable five-year, $162 million extension. Then there were reports indicating that Detroit viewed Thompson as the second-best player behind Cade Cunningham.
Even McMahon stated the same, and Fischer added his two cents on it.
“And now Ausar Thompson’s extension talks and his rookie scale stuff will happen before the season, and he is almost certainly going to get extended. And if that just happens so quickly, and this has been a whole year dragged out with Duren, it will be a tricky thing to monitor and move forward.”
Duren’s regular-season production helped earn him All-NBA recognition, but his impact dropped during Detroit’s postseason run. Plus, the Lakers had an opportunity to add a young center this offseason; they chose Walker Kessler over Duren. This indirectly hurt the Pistons star’s value.
If Detroit’s front office believes more in Thompson, it makes sense why they have offered a $127 million less contract to Duren.