There’s a strong likelihood Jalen Duren won’t be in the building when training camp opens for the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday, Sept. 29, in Midtown.
Not much will change, for him or for the Pistons, until the restricted free agent puts ink to paper, whether it's on a one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer, or the five-year, $200 million deal the Pistons have reportedly offered. Per NBA rules, Duren is prohibited from taking part in team activities until he has a contract.
That didn't stop Duren’s ongoing free agency saga – Thursday is the deadline for the 23-year-old big to decide, though the Pistons could extend that – from being the leading topic during Monday's media day on Monday. President of basketball operations Trajan Langdon took a moment
to address the contract standoff before taking questions, and coach J.B. Bickerstaff and Cade Cunningham also spoke about the situation.
Trajan Langdon on Jalen Duren
“As you guys know, we have not come to an agreement with Jalen Duren to this point,” Langdon said. “He has until Thursday to make a decision and we will be excited to have him in regardless of what decision he does make. He was a huge reason for our success these last two seasons. Had a tremendous season individually last year as well.
“We believe he will do the same thing this year, upcoming and are excited to have him back when he gets back. We’ll integrate him and he’s going to have a fantastic season regardless of his decision. We look forward to getting him back.”
One quote from Langdon, in particular, cut through the fat.
As Duren mulls a long-term deal with the Pistons or the one-year agreement that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer, the latter is his lone source of leverage. To exert that leverage – and extract more money from the Pistons – he first has to establish that he’s willing to take the qualifying offer. Langdon understands that the situation, ultimately, is a negotiation tactic.
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“I wouldn’t say I had an anticipation of anything that was going to go on,” Langdon said. “Negotiation is negotiation, so that’s all that’s going on right now. I don’t hold anything against him or his group. We’re trying to put a team together. They’re trying to get their client paid the most money."
No matter which deal gets done, Duren will be in a Pistons uniform eventually, and the franchise will proceed as normal once he’s in the building. And Langdon won’t let reports of Duren’s dissatisfaction impact the ongoing negotiation.
“I won’t let anybody's feelings get in the way of decisions that I make professionally,” he said. “That has nothing to do with it. Reports that are out there are also meaningless to me.”
Cade Cunningham on standoff: 'That's my brother'
Cunningham was measured when addressing Duren’s situation, acknowledging that he also negotiated his own five-year extension with the team not long ago – in 2024 – and can relate to the difficulty of it.
“That’s my brother,” Cunningham said. “On the court, off the court we’ve been to war together. We’ve had dinners together. I’ve met his family, he’s met my family. The negotiation is between the front office and his representation, so they’re going to figure that out. It has nothing to do with me. So the best thing I can do is be there for him, to support him, encourage him, not let him get down when it’s such a crazy time for him.”
Though the Pistons ultimately have been accepting – at least publicly – of Duren’s decision to continue negotiations through media day and camp, navigating the first few days without him will be a challenge. There’s no replacement on the roster for what he brings as a forceful rebounder and go-to offensive talent – the Pistons' second-most productive player, after Cunningham.
J.B. Bickerstaff on coaching without All-NBA player
Duren's absence on the official training camp roster, delivered to media members before Langdon’s press conference Monday, was glaring. But the team is prepared for his eventual arrival, waiving Gary Harris on Sunday to bring the roster to 14 players – one under the NBA limit.
“You just coach the team,” Bickerstaff said. “That’s a decision that’s out of our hands right now, out of my hands, I should say, right now. I can’t allow it to take away from what my responsibilities to the guys that are here is, so we prepare ourselves as coaches to put our best foot forward, to give the guys in the gym tomorrow the best that we have, and help them prepare for how we move forward and get us ready for [October] 20th.
“He knows how I feel about him and I continue to let him know how I feel about him, and that’s really all that matters,” he continued. “I love JD. I know how JD feels about me, how he feels about being a member of the Pistons. It’s positive. I know there’s a lot of things out there being said, but he’s a huge part of what we do, he’s a huge part of where we are right now, the steps that we’ve taken to get there. Comes to the work that he’s put in, the effort and the sacrifices that he’s made for this team and his teammates. It’s all love from our standpoint and we look forward to having him back.”
When Duren does eventually return, the hope is that the team will be able to put the saga behind them quickly. Preseason opens Monday, Oct. 5 (7 p.m., The Spot - Detroit 20), at home against the Phoenix Suns. The regular season will follow two weeks after, on Oct. 20.
There won't be much time to get Duren acclimated, but they will need to in order to successfully build on last season's 60-win campaign in an Eastern Conference improved across the board. The Pistons will need Duren to arrive ready and focused on the task ahead.
“Obviously we’ve gotta have a great camp and everybody else has to step up as far as the energy, the understanding of our system and what we’re trying to do here and what we’re trying to build this season,” Cunningham said. “When he’s back, we’re going to welcome him with open arms. We can’t wait for him to get back. That’ll uplift us even more. Right now it’s about the guys who are in the room, make sure we make the most out of it.”
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Contact Omari Sankofa II at osankofa@freepress.com. Follow him on X and/or Bluesky.
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: Pistons on standoff with Jalen Duren: 'Negotiation is negotiation'
