The Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren remain locked in negotiations that could lead the 22-year-old center to the nuclear option of accepting the qualifying offer, which would be a disaster.
Insider Marc Stein (subscription) reiterated earlier reporting that Jalen Duren “has been weighing the unappealing prospect of playing out the 2026-27 season on a qualifying offer with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer.”
The Pistons had to make Duren the qualifying offer of $9.6 million for him to be a restricted free agent, and the big man could just accept it, play out next season and then be an unrestricted free agent who would also have some limited no-trade power during the season.
The threat of the qualifying offer is really the only leverage Duren has left, and we have seen players use it before, though none who would be risking as much as Duren would be next season.
It’s still doubtful Duren goes this route, but if he does, the Pistons will be left with few options.
If Duren takes the qualifying offer, the Pistons have to trade him
I’m sure all things being equal, the Pistons would love to get another year of data before making a long-term decision about Duren, especially if it means only paying him $9.6 million next season.
But by doing so, they would sacrifice all team control, which means Duren could walk at the end of next season and the Pistons would get nothing. That is not an option for Detroit, as Duren still has a ton of value even if the league has agreed he’s not worth a max contract.
Walker Kessler was just traded for two unprotected picks and two swaps, and he’s not as good as Duren and missed all of last season with injury, so if the Pistons were to trade Duren, they’d reap some rewards from it.
When would the Pistons do it?
Again, this is all under the hypothetical situation of Duren accepting the qualifying offer, something the Pistons will do everything they can to prevent. There is a genuine desire to bring Duren back, so Detroit will try to work with him before the nuclear option gets deployed.
But if it did happen, Detroit would almost have to trade Duren before the season, as they don’t want to go into next year with this hanging over the team.
Trading him midway through the year when he’d just be a half-season rental would lower their return, and his low salary would make it all but impossible to get equal value in a trade.
If teams knew they could just wait and sign Duren as a free agent, why would they give up assets to trade for him?
Trading him at the deadline would also create chaos late in the season just as the Pistons are supposed to be gearing up for the playoffs. No thanks.
Neither side wants the QO option, so let’s hope this deal gets done before Duren has to use it.
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