Jan 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) moves the ball up court in front of Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) during the during the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images
Jan 25, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren (0) moves the ball up court in front of Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (11) during the during the second half at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The Detroit Pistons have lost some of the leverage they once had in the Jalen Duren contract negotiations, but they have one thing still going in their favor, which is that they are a good team led by a superstar in Cade Cunningham.
The Pistons have said all along that they wouldn’t entertain sign-and-trade options for Duren, but now that he has reportedly turned down a $200 million offer, they may have to revisit some of those early ideas.
The two teams that have been mentioned most often are the Sacramento Kings and Milwaukee Bucks.
The Kings have reportedly made their interest in Duren well known and may have even gone as far as to make a wink-wink promise about a max deal in free agency next offseason.
They are trying to build a deal around Domantas Sabonis, a guy they haven’t been able to give away, but are now claiming has positive trade value. The rest of the league doesn’t think so, as no one has bitten on a +30-year-old who barely played last season and is owed a ton of money.
The Bucks have also registered their interest and also have a center that no one wants. While the idea of Myles Turner may appeal as a stretch five, he’s not as good as Duren and it’s not really close.
Turner can shoot, but he does little else, especially when it comes to rebounding, as he averaged about half the boards Duren did last season. Milwaukee would have to throw in sweeteners, which then makes the money difficult.
What these two teams have in common is that they are both expected to be bad next season and are in the process of rebuilding. Does Duren want to go through that again? If so, the Pistons may just have to accommodate his wishes.
Duren may feel insulted by the Pistons, fine, but does he really want to play for the Kings or Bucks?
The one piece of leverage the Piston have left is that they were the number one seed in the Eastern Conference last season and are led by a legit superstar in Cade Cunningham, a guy who made Duren’s life a lot easier.
The Kings are the Kings and not expected to be good....well....ever. If Duren wants to be the best player on a terrible team, he’d have a great chance with the Kings.
Same with the Bucks, as Duren would immediately be the centerpiece of their rebuild, and their highest paid player. In either of these situations, Duren would have a chance to put huge numbers on bad teams. Bully for him.
Only the Pistons can offer him a chance to play for a winner on the verge of contention, and only they can offer him more money than anyone else, which they have.
If Duren would rather put up empty stats on bad teams than build something special in Detroit, that is his prerogative and I wouldn’t hold it against him, but is that the kind of guy you want to pay $40 million year?
I know my answer, and the Pistons should too.
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