Oct 24, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) reacts after making a basket during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
Oct 24, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) reacts after making a basket during the second quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
As the Jalen Duren saga threatens to follow us into September, there is increasing speculation that the Detroit Pistons may have to consider a sign-and-trade.
Detroit has made it clear they are not interested, and the only way I could see that change is if Duren took the nuclear option and accepted the qualifying offer, which he’d be unwise to do. If he did, the Pistons would lose all team control and risk losing him for nothing, in which case they may have to at least consider trading him to avoid that disaster.
It’s unlikely, but that’s not going to stop the speculation, which will continue until we see a signed contract, so we’ve seen plenty of sign-and-trade ideas for the Pistons, most of which are not rooted in reality or completely ignore the new problems they create
I don’t think the Pistons are out shopping for trades, but if their hand is forced, there is one thing for certain, they’d have to cash in big time on Duren to make it worth their while.
Pistons have to set a high price for any Jalen Duren trade
I’ve said from the beginning that this will eventually get resolved, as we’ve seen free agency standoffs go on this long recently, and they all worked out just fine.
The two sides don’t have many other options, as there aren’t other teams to steal Duren away, and the Pistons don’t exactly have a Plan B for losing their All-NBA center.
To consider what the Pistons would have to get back to make it worth their while, you can start with what the Lakers paid to get Walker Kessler, which was two first-round picks and two swaps.
Kessler didn’t even play last season, so the baseline for a Duren trade package starts even higher than that, as he is better than Kessler and not coming off an injury.
But it’s not all about the picks, as the Pistons would need to replace his production in the trade, so they’d almost have to get a center back in the deal, which limits their options.
There is a trade floating around with Milwaukee that makes some sense, but even with a young player and pick attached, it still might not be enough to get Detroit’s attention.
It’s possible that a palatable sign-and-trade opportunity will present itself, but it’s going to take talented players AND picks to pry Duren away, and it’s hard to see the team that has such a package to give up.
That leaves both sides back where we started, with each other as their best option, so it’s just going to come down to who blinks first. But if they do the unthinkable and trade Duren, the return better justify it, or there will be fingers pointed at the front office for how they have handled his free agency, starting with failing to extend him last offseason.
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