The offseason drama continues.
Sam Amick released an article today on The Athletic surrounding Jalen Duren and his contract negotiations with the Detroit Pistons.
Amick said:
All-NBA forward Jalen Duren was underwhelmed by the Detroit Pistons’ initial offer in restricted free agency and is planning to explore sign-and-trade scenarios when they are permitted on Tuesday, league sources told The Athletic.
Based on what we’ve heard back to last year about negotiations with Duren, the two parties have never
gotten close to finding a middle ground on JD’s next contract. I’m not surprised that they feel underwhelmed by Detroit’s offer.
Amick also reported:
According to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiation is ongoing, the gap between the sides is large enough that Duren is considering ways to land elsewhere, with the sign-and-trade route deemed preferable to signing an offer sheet with another team that the Pistons could, and likely would, match. And with some of the game’s best players potentially available this summer, including the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the question now becomes whether the Pistons might be willing to engage in those sorts of scenarios when that time comes.
We’ve heard Detroit wants to go big-game hunting and that sure makes it a lot easier to do when you have a 22-year-old All-NBA center to use as bait.
Trajan Langdon doesn’t seem like a guy who’s willing to lose on the margins. He seems to set his price and he sticks to it, whether that’s for a new Jalen Duren contract or a trade for a player like Tyler Herro or Trey Murphy III. After JD’s playoff performance, it’s fair that Detroit is hesitant. However, he’s also an All-NBA player who’s younger than some of the rookies that got drafted on Tuesday night.
This offseason has already been fascinating and that seems like it’s only going to continue over the next week or two. We knew that the Isaiah Stewart trade of getting money off their books was Step One for a bigger move and this could be it – though, those are two big holes in the center position that they’ll need to fill.
Here are a couple quick thoughts on potential Jalen Duren sign-and-trades:
- Boston – Jaylen Brown
- Brooklyn – Michael Porter Jr
- Charlotte – LaMelo Ball TPE + picks
- LA Lakers – Austin Reaves
- Milwaukee – Ryan Rollins + Myles Turner
- New Orleans – Trey Murphy III
Get your popcorn ready.
Go Stones.
