As the Pistons reconvened in Detroit for the team’s annual media day, there was a large elephant in the room.
Following a 60-win season which netted the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the presumed conversation would’ve surrounded what the young team can do to keep up with the improved competition. But with All-Star and All-NBA center Jalen Duren’s restricted free agency situation unresolved with a qualifying offer deadline looming on Thursday, the hot-button topic was the offseason’s largest unanswered question.
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon addressed the standoff from the jump as he spoke to reporters on Monday. Despite sign-and-trade rumors at the start of free agency and new suitors emerging as recently as media day, the organization’s stance has remained the same: The Pistons will not entertain trade offers involving their homegrown, All-Star big man and Duren will be on the roster this season, whether that’s through a long-term agreement or a one-year qualifying offer.
Langdon made that clear in his opening statement. “[Duren] has until Thursday to make a decision. We will be excited to have him in regardless of what decision he does make,” he said.
Detroit’s most recent offer was for five years and $200 million which Duren declined, according to ESPN. Without a long-term deal and with a trade off the table (at least for now), Duren can sign his one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer to play out the season with the Pistons and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
The qualifying offer comes with immense risk for both sides. Detroit could see a key piece of its core walk for nothing next year, while Duren risks a full season of potential injuries or performance decline while he leaves an incredible amount of guaranteed money on the table. The qualifying offer could get extended past Thursday’s deadline but, based on Langdon’s comments, the Pistons have no plans on doing so. Should the deadline pass and Duren remain unsigned, the qualifying offer would expire and he would remain a restricted free agent—without an NBA contract less than three weeks before the season.
It’s a massive decision for a 22-year-old to make as he, according to ESPN, feels disrespected by the process because of how the team handled Ausar Thompson’s recent extension and the weight clauses included in Duren’s previous offers. Although the Pistons can’t control their young star’s decision, which Langdon admits, the team has the leverage here. They would have to agree to a trade that would send Duren elsewhere, which seems unequivocally off the table; our own Chris Mannix reported on Tuesday that the team has been “steadfast in its unwillingness to deal Duren” and believe the deal on the table reflects fair market value.
“He’s going to be a huge part of the team regardless of which decision he does make. He will be a Detroit Piston,” Langdon said sternly.
While Langdon didn’t speak on specifics of the negotiation, he alluded to Thursday’s deadline as the end to Duren’s saga in restricted free agency. Accept the team’s latest offer—one that’s $200 million nonetheless—or take the qualifying offer and go elsewhere next year if he so chooses.
Qualifying offers come with an inherent no-trade clause, which would give Duren veto rights if he chooses that path. There’s an option to sign a shorter-term deal for more than the qualifying offer and subsequently give up the veto rights, but the Pistons would have to put that offer in front of him. Something they have not done yet as far as we know. And in light of Langdon’s sentiment, there’s only two paths forward here: The team’s latest and, presumably, final offer or the $9.6 million qualifying offer.
Langdon has been here before. He was the general manager of the Pelicans before he came to Detroit, which he alluded to with a spicy comment on Monday. He said he was “in New Orleans for five years with a certain player that wasn’t easy to deal with either,” which could be Brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson. Williamson’s contract talks included weight clauses, while Ingram wanted a max extension that the Pels weren’t willing to offer up.
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No matter the specific situation, the leader of the Pistons’ front office hasn’t relented on keeping his teams nimble enough to compete moving forward. Even if that comes at the expense of feelings, because it’s all just business. Langdon said he’s not going to hold anything against Duren and he hasn’t spoken with the big man over the offseason—not necessarily an oddity as contract talks are handled between the team and player representation. Still, any potential hard feelings won’t change the Pistons’ offer.
“I won’t let anybody’s feelings get in the way of decisions I make professionally. That has nothing to do [with it],” Langdon said regarding reports that Duren has felt disrespected throughout the process. “So reports that are out there are also meaningless to me.”
Much was made about Duren’s absence from an offseason team minicamp in San Diego organized by superstar guard Cade Cunningham. They talked beforehand, though, and Cunningham wasn’t disappointed about Duren’s lack of presence. The stalemate hasn’t gotten in between the players. Cunningham said they’ve talked a lot as he continues to support his pick-and-roll partner.
“I was just in the same situation recently,” he said. “It’s a tough situation. You don’t really have people in your life that have been through something like this. I felt that way and JD feels that way so I’m the person that he knows that has been through this type of situation. I’m trying to encourage him and be supportive for him, whatever he needs.”
The front office and the team are ready to welcome Duren back with open arms. What his contract next season looks like is the one thing that’s up to him in the limited world of a restricted free agent. The decision seems easy on the surface with hundreds of millions and long-term certainty against a gamble on one long season of play.
That choice, though, is nobody’s to make except Duren’s. And all eyes are on Thursday.
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