Trajan Langdon doesn’t talk about negotiations.
All the Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations would say during media day on Monday, Sept. 28, was that he wants Jalen Duren back, and that he and the team will welcome him when he does come back, whether that's on a new, multi-year deal for about $200 million, or on the one-year qualifying offer, for about $9.6 million.
The qualifying offer will guarantee Duren a smaller payday this year for the right to be an unrestricted free agent this summer. That’s an enormous gamble for Duren to take. It’s also an enormous gamble for Langdon to let Duren take it.
And he shouldn’t. And he won’t.
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Not if he’s smart, and Langdon is plenty smart enough not to give up on a 22-year-old All-NBA big who has gotten better every year. Besides, Cade Cunningham, the face of the franchise, wants Duren in Detroit.
“That’s my brother,” said Cunningham, who has been in touch with Duren through his contract standoff. “When he gets back, we’re gonna welcome him with open arms.”
Duren’s teammates understand what this is: a contract negotiation. Too bad so many outside observers don’t.
Like the folks who think Duren doesn’t want to be here, even though he hasn’t asked for a trade. Or the folks who’ve been convinced by “leaks” that he wanted to play for Sacramento and pushed for a sign-and-trade.
No, he doesn’t. That was using the media to try to manipulate his price. It has worked, too, as reports suggest the Pistons keep upping their offer.
All of this is white noise anyway. Duren will almost certainly sign a long-term deal, whether it’s for $200 million or $201 million or $205 million or $210 million ... well, you get it. He’s waiting until the last minute to get the most money he can get. The Pistons are waiting until the last minute to get the best deal they can, too.
In short order, they’ll be stuck with each other, which begs the more important question underlying all of this:
Can the Pistons win a title with Cunningham, Duren and Ausar Thompson as their core?
Because after Thursday – the NBA's Oct. 1 deadline for Duren to decide (unless the Pistons opt to extend the deadline) – the franchise will almost certainly have $570 million on the books for those three.
Plan for young talent working so far
To answer my own question: Yes, they can, as long as the roster fits around them and as long as all three keep getting better.
That's good news if you are a Pistons fan, because there is no reason to assume they won’t, not when what they’ve shown us so far is that they will, because they have.
Could that change? Yeah, of course. Players plateau. But history is all we’ve got right now, and history tells us that players who work and who improve every season don’t stop improving at 22 or 23 or even at 25, which is the age of Old Man Cunningham (who's entering his sixth season in Detroit).
The Pistons' star got stronger during last year's offseason, and finished better last season despite some fluky injuries (a collapsed lung? Really?), and shot the ball better in the playoffs – better than 40% from beyond the 3-point line, on respectable volume. Is that sustainable? Maybe not in the regular season, but I’d bet it will be in the postseason.
Where can he get better still?
As a leader, for one, he said. Also, as a ball-handler and decision-maker; Cunningham still turns the ball over too often. He knows it. Even a small improvement in that way, and the Pistons won’t lose a series again like the one they lost against Cleveland in May.
Thompson needs to tighten his handle and attack the rim more forcefully. Yes, an improved jumper would be nice, but that’d be gravy, considering his All-Defense chops. And as for Duren?
He can get better everywhere, at everything – despite being third-team All-NBA last season – and that’s why the Pistons didn’t tell him to take a walk. It’s why they keep upping their offer – reportedly – and why Langdon said repeatedly Monday they were excited to get him back.
They have a sense of what he can be in his fourth season and beyond, even as he doesn't turn 23 until November. So do Cunningham and Thompson and the rest of Duren’s teammates.
Whether he gets to their ideal – or to his own – is up to him and still too hard to be fully confident in. What can be said, though, is that, at minimum, he will offer vertical spacing and sturdy pick-setting and one of the best pair of big-man hands in the game.
He rebounds, and he sees the floor, and he can even make an occasional jumper. He’s got a presence, and a physicality, and both matter to the identity of this team. Now he has to show he can do it in the playoffs.
The Pistons are betting that he can. He is, too. Which is why he won’t sign – nor should he – until he’s certain he’s negotiated as much as he can.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
For (preseason) openers: Suns
Matchup: Pistons (60-22 in 2025-26) vs. Phoenix (45-37), exhibition opener.
Faceoff: 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 5; Little Caesars Arena, Detroit.
TV/radio: The Spot – Detroit 20; WXYT-FM (97.1).
Regular-season opener: Vs. Celtics; 3 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 20; NBC.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Jalen Duren fits too well in Detroit for the Pistons not to keep him
