When we checked in on Jalen Duren last month, the Detroit Pistons center seemed prepared to make one of the wildest “betting on yourself” moves in NBA history. For the past four months, the Pistons and Duren could not come to terms on a multi-year contract. Duren, a restricted free agent, indicated that he’d be willing to accept the one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer from Detroit, which would have made him an unrestricted free agent next offseason. In the process, he would have turned down a deal somewhere around $170 to $190 million.
Players have signed qualifying offers before, but they’ve usually been bench guys or fringe roster players. Duren is coming off a season in which he was named to the All-NBA Third Team and received an NBA All-Star nod. No player with those credentials has ever signed a qualifying offer.
And that statistic will remain true. Duren and the Pistons waited until almost quite literally the last minute, agreeing on a long-term contract within two hours of the qualifying offer deadline. Duren will return to Detroit on a five-year, $200 million deal.
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While money was part of the reason for the long back-and-forth, Duren also found challenges with other parts of the process. He thought the team gave Ausar Thompson his five-year, $155 million rookie-scale contract with minimal issues. Earlier offers from the Pistons also reportedly included weight clauses, something Duren didn’t appreciate.
Because fans and analysts tend to have short memories, a lot of focus was put on Duren’s rough postseason. His numbers dropped across the board; he averaged nine fewer points and two fewer rebounds per game while shooting 14% worse from the field in the playoffs compared to the regular season.
Still, he’s only 22 years old, and he had the best regular season of his career with 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 65% shooting. Assuming he continues to elevate his play and can improve under the bright lights of the playoffs, this deal could look like a bargain by the time it wraps up.
In the meantime, Duren and the Pistons can finally put this situation behind them. The team will look to build off a 60-win season; that’s nearly double the 31 wins the Pistons had in Duren’s first two seasons combined. Alongside Thompson and former No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham, Duren is a big reason the franchise has made such an impressive turnaround.
It took a while, but the Pistons finally rewarded him for his efforts.
