Hours before the Thursday 11:59 p.m. ET deadline, Jalen Duren signed an extension. The five-year $200 million deal guarantees the future of the All-Star center with the Detroit Pistons. But something changed on the day of the deadline after a long summer of unsuccessful negotiations.
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The issue started when the Pistons started their offer of around $175 million to $190 million for a five-year deal. Now, Jalen Duren, due to his All-NBA honors, earned him a max contract of up to $287 million. Due to poor performance from the 22-year-old in the playoffs, Detroit was never comfortable offering the max deal. That’s why insiders Shams Charania called it “highly up in the air and questionable,” and Tim MacMahon previously described it as “an awfully nasty negotiation.”
So, the center had three options before the QO expired. He could have signed the $200 million deal. Or he could have signed the one-year, $9.6M qualifying offer that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. Jalen Duren was within his rights not to sign either, becoming a restricted free agent and continuing the negotiations amid the standoff. But he chose the first option after the weight-clause issue was resolved.
“Detroit’s decision to include a verbal weight clause in one of its contract offers only added to what was already a seemingly fractured relationship,” The Athletic reported. ” Duren was initially caught off guard by the weight clause proposal, considering he’d never had any weight issues in the past and has played in at least 60 games in each season of his career. The Pistons removed the clause Wednesday, according to league sources.”
The weight clause was never written, nor was it a performance incentive. Detroit added it in after a concerning playoff performance from Jalen Duren. His stats were 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds over Detroit’s 14 postseason games. Plus, his shooting also dropped to 51.4%.
That’s why the Pistons had issues and reportedly viewed the extra weight as the reason for the downhill performance. So, they wanted a monthly check-in by Jalen Duren on the weighing scale. There was another reason why the 22-year-old’s agency view negotiations as sour.
The All-Star center was eligible since last season. There was no agreement, but it was less problematic than the current one. Then the Pistons also prioritized Ausar Thompson’s renewal over Jalen Duren. While the situation with the front office remained tough, JD got the support from his teammates and head coach.
“I expect JD to be here,” J.B. Bickerstaff said yesterday. “I haven’t had a doubt in my mind that he was going to come back and be a part of what we were doing no matter what it looks like. My responsibility is to maintain that relationship with him so that when he’s here, we can do the best to help him and do the best by the team which I know he will.”
In fact, the Pistons head coach also stated that the entire franchise would welcome Jalen Duren with open arms. With a regular season contribution of 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.8 blocks per game while shooting 65.0% from the field. It’s easy to understand why Bickerstaff is relying on the All-Star center.
Even Cade Cunningham was standing behind his teammate amid the contract standoff. Jalen Duren was not allowed at Media Day unless he signed any extension. But his All-Star teammate made sure that the contract situation did not complicate their relationship.
“I felt that way, and JD feels that way,” Cunningham said. “So I’m the person that he knows that it’s somebody that’s been through this type of situation. So really just trying to encourage him and just be support for him wherever he needs.”
There is no doubt that Jalen Duren was a key piece of a Pistons team that won 60 games last season. Detroit also finished atop the Eastern Conference standings, but then came the drop. Playoffs did not transpire as the 22-year-old expected. Now, he gets another chance to prove his worth.