Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) grabs the rebound in the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers during game two of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena.
Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images
With NBA training camps set to open at the end of the month, the Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren have reportedly not made any progress on a new free agency contract. As the days go by, taking the one-year qualifying offer and becoming an unrestricted free agent seems increasingly likely. And should that happen, the Sacramento Kings might emerge as the frontrunner to snatch Jalen Duren up next offseason, as per Sam Amick and Hunter Patterson of The Athletic.
If Jalen Duren ends up signing the one-year qualifier with the Pistons before the Oct. 1 deadline, he will hit unrestricted free agency and a team like the Kings could potentially sign him outright. Earlier in the offseason when rumors were swirling about rival teams interested in engaging the Pistons in sign-and-trade talks for Duren, the Kings were among that group.
To get to that point though, the Kings would obviously need to clear salary to be able to fit Duren on a potential max contract. And if the budding All-Star does indeed reach unrestricted free agency, there’s sure to be other teams that are interested.
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The former lottery pick is coming off the best regular season of his career in which he was selected to the All-Star Team for the first time. Although his production dropped during the Pistons’ playoff run, he is one of the NBA’s best up and coming young centers.
He appeared in 70 games this year at a little over 28 minutes per game. The fourth-year big man averaged a career-best 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists with splits of 65 percent shooting from the field and 74.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.