Pistons’ Jalen Duren is back in the lab amid contract uncertainty

Over a month has passed since the NBA’s free agency period began, and Jalen Duren, coming off a season in which he made the All-NBA Third Team, remains a free agent. The Detroit Pistons are playing out the strings with Duren in restricted free agency, and neither side appear to be ready to budge.

All of the drama surrounding Duren and his next contract has to be fueling all the hard work he’s been putting up this offseason, which was caught on camera by By My View on Instagram.

Jalen Duren putting the work in this offseason

(via bymyview0/ Instagram)pic.twitter.com/assOx0QMgX

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Duren remains adamant in his demand for the Pistons to fork over a five-year, max contract which would pay him around a total of $287 million (around $57.4 million per season). Detroit is not willing to go as far as that, not when they are aware that they would soon have to give Ausar Thompson a hefty raise on his contract extension.

Meanwhile, reports have the Pistons’ price point for Duren at around $30 to $35 million, which Duren’s camp feels is a major lowball. After all, Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest last season and flashed an improved offensive game off the bounce, which helped keep them afloat during Cade Cunningham’s absence due to a collapsed lung.

However, Duren did put up one stinker after another in the playoffs. This, without a doubt, has affected how the Pistons have perceived him in contract negotiations. The 22-year-old averaged just 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds in the playoffs (14 games), and he found himself being routinely benched for third-string big man Paul Reed, who outplayed him at times.

The Pistons are wary of committing such a huge figure to Duren due to today’s salary cap landscape. As teams have shown over the past few years, they have had to make some difficult trades just to duck the second apron.

Nonetheless, there are still signals that Duren and the Pistons could come to terms on a middle ground agreement, with Detroit paying him around $40 million per annum.

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