Why Pistons are positioned to compete in the East despite Jalen Duren’s extension stalemate

All-Stars Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, and the Detroit Pistons’ timeline for an NBA Finals run has officially begun. The Pistons’ stellar core grew faster than expected by turning in 60 wins for the third-best record in the association last season. Then, the front office retooled its roster, prioritizing cap flexibility and ways to improve their offense following their 4-2 loss to the New York Knicks in the second round of last year’s playoffs.

The Pistons’ blockbuster trade for John Collins adds a new wrinkle to their starting lineup. Pairing the veteran forward as a lob threat with Cunningham, Detroit added a productive rebounder, bench depth, and experience, with Taurean Prince and Gary Harris as part of the deal.

While Collins had a down year with the LA Clippers last season, posting 13.6 points and 5.3 rebounds, he averaged 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds in 2024-25. If he levels somewhere in between for the Pistons next season, they could have one of the most productive starting lineups in the league. Surrounding him with All-Stars in Cunningham and Duren, along with an All-Defensive player in Thompson, Collins is positioned for a bounce-back year.

The Pistons parted ways with Isaiah Stewart, Caris LeVert, and Marcus Sasser in the multi-team deal, but made up for the loss by replacing them with frontcourt shooting in Collins and Prince, who both shot above 40% from deep last season. And with an underrated trade for one of the better 3-point shooters in the NBA.

Sending two future second-round picks to the Oklahoma City Thunder for sharpshooter Isaiah Joe; it was a steal for the Pistons. Joe, a casualty of the 2025 champion Thunder’s salary dump, averaged a career-high 11.1 points and made 42.3% of his 3-point attempts in 2025-26.

Joe gives Detroit another elite shooter to complement Duncan Robinson, who shot 41.0% from deep last season. On paper, the Pistons are one of the deepest teams in the league. Cunningham, who finished fifth in MVP voting, is entering his prime. The Pistons front office did a tremendous job in improving his supporting cast amid their window to compete for a championship.

As teams in the Eastern Conference made significant moves to improve their respective rosters, most notably the Philadelphia 76ers, who traded Paul George for 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown before signing LeBron James, the Pistons trimming around the edges can’t be overlooked.

The Thunder made similar moves in acquiring Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein before winning their first title in franchise history in 2025. The only thing left for the Pistons to do to put the finishing touches on their impressive offseason is to reach a long-term deal with Duren amid their contract stalemate, which has now reached the final week of August.

Pistons’ Jalen Duren prediction after ‘nasty’ contract negotiation

Whether Pistons’ Jalen Duren agrees to a contract extension or not, he’s got a lot to prove in 2026-27. In only his fourth season, in which he averaged 19.5 points on 65% shooting and 10.5 rebounds, Duren earned his first All-Star nod. He also made the All-NBA Third Team. However, Jalen struggled in the postseason.

From the get-go, Duren failed to deliver his typical double-double production in the Pistons’ opening round of the playoffs. He finished with eight points and seven rebounds in a 112-101 loss to the Magic in Game 1. In a winning effort, Duren followed that up with 11 points and nine rebounds to tie the series, 2-2, before saving his best for last with 15 points and 15 rebounds in a do-or-die Game 7.

While the Pistons took care of business with a 116-94 blowout victory to advance to the second round, many believed the Magic shouldn’t have been able to push them to the brink of elimination, citing Duren’s inconsistency as a contributing factor. He found his stride in the Pistons’ six-game best-of-7 series against the Knicks, but still failed to duplicate his scoring from the regular season.

Jalen averaged 11.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.5 assists across six games against the eventual-champion Knicks. Still, the Pistons are reportedly set to offer their All-Star forward a four-year, $160 million extension ahead of the 2026-27 season, according to NBA insider Jake Fischer.

“This time last year, I remember hearing how acrimonious it was between Josh Giddey and Chicago, and how Dyson Daniels and the Hawks were so far apart,” Fischer said. “Kuminga even gets a decent payday from Golden State. We still have about a month left for restricted free agents to come to terms with their incumbent teams.

“I talked with someone today who still believes he’s on track for a four-year, $160 million deal. He’s clearly gonna want something closer to what Walker Kessler got than what Mitchell Robinson got. But when all things are said and done.”

If Duren and the Pistons can’t come to terms on an agreement, he could end up accepting a one-year qualifying offer worth $9.6 million to prove he’s worth roughly a $40 million or more annual salary of a max deal. If so, Duren could be tempted to sign elsewhere as an unrestricted free agent, which could be the ultimate result of his contract stalemate with the Pistons, as ESPN’s Tim McMahon noted.

“The biggest question I’ve got about the Pistons is what’s going to be the lingering cloud when this whole Jalen Duren situation gets finalized or at least temporarily settled,” McMahon said. “Is he going to sign an extension? I don’t know. This has been an awfully nasty negotiation. So, I’ve got real concerns there because I understand they believe Ausar Thompson is their second-best player, but Jalen Duren was an All-NBA player for them last year.

“He was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. You can certainly criticize the playoff performance, but he was a massive factor in them winning 60 games. I don’t know him. I don’t have a great feel for his temperament or anything like that, but sometimes these negotiations, when they are ugly like this, can have long-lasting consequences.”

The Pistons, who added shooting and rebounding to their roster this summer, are banking on building off of their offseason additions to take them to the next level. Winning helps smooth things over, but if you’re the Pistons, securing Duren to a long-term deal ahead of the 2026-27 season would be ideal.

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