There is some good news and some bad news right now for Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren.
The Pistons are expected to try to retain Duren in free agency this offseason, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic reported on Monday. However, Detroit will reportedly try to do so at a lower rate amid a widely-held belief around the league that Duren will have “little to no leverage” to try to negotiate for a max contract.
Duren, still only 22 years old, was an All-Star for the Pistons this year and enjoyed a very strong regular season. In 70 total games, Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game on a superb 65.0 percent from the field.
But the postseason was a very different story for the former lottery pick Duren. His playoff averages fell to just 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds per game on only 51.4 percent shooting as Duren was regularly outplayed by opposing big men such as Wendell Carter Jr. of the Orlando Magic and Jarrett Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
This offseason, Duren is now set to become a restricted free agent. While he might have been able to gun for the max on the strength of his career-best regular season, Duren’s postseason disappearing act now figures to have cost him a considerable chunk of change this summer.
The Pistons will have plenty of other orders of business to attend to in the offseason, particularly with Tobias Harris due for unrestricted free agency and Ausar Thompson becoming eligible for an extension. But with Duren tanking his value with his playoff performance (on top of the immature moments he had throughout the year), Detroit could find themselves with more financial flexibility than expected to build out the rest of their roster.
