Pistons officially sign $155M former first-rounder, defensive menace not named Jalen Duren image
The Detroit Pistons are trying to figure some things out within the organization before the regular season starts. Their biggest goal throughout the offseason has been to get Jalen Duren and his camp to agree on a contract.
That has been an ongoing discussion for the last couple of months, with nothing getting resolved. Instead, the team agreed to terms with Ausar Thompson on an extension over the weekend.
“Detroit Pistons All-Defensive forward Ausar Thompson has agreed to a five-year, $155 million rookie-scale contract extension with the franchise, sources told ESPN," ESPN's Shams Charania wrote.
This is a great move for the organization, as Thompson is a plus defender who is a real nightmare for other teams across the league. The Pistons were able to lock him down for the future with no problems at all, but by doing so, it has reportedly hurt the relationship with Duren even more.
Detroit inking Thompson to a five-year, $155 million deal, which will begin paying him an average annual value of $31 million, added a layer to Duren's contract negotiations," The Athletic's Sam Amick wrote.
Thompson’s twin brother is a key player for the Houston Rockets and also got a contract extension. Duren is now trying to use Thompson getting an extension as leverage, but it isn’t going to plan. On Tuesday, Thompson and the Pistons made the extension official, putting pen to paper.
“In other Pistons news, Ausar Thompson officially put pen to paper on his new 5yr/$155M contract extension. The Pistons now have Cunningham and Thompson officially on the books long-term, with Thompson's deal coming in around 15% of the cap,” NBA insider Brett Siegel posted.
The future is set up beautifully for Detroit, and it would be even better if they can somehow fix the relationship with Duren. The entire thought this summer has been that Duren would get his deal first, but it didn’t go that way.
Thompson’s extension was pretty much a team-friendly deal that allows them to make other moves. The Pistons had a willingness to get it done, and it officially is. The same can’t be said about Duren.
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