Jalen Duren is the latest free-agent straggler.<\/p>\n
Inside a league that is increasingly worried about expensive rosters, NBA teams are squeezing players who hit what purports to be the open market. Duren, a restricted free agent, is this summer\u2019s personification of the trend.<\/p>\n
Organizations own the right of first refusal on restricted free agents, and because there is such consternation about high payrolls these days, they are deploying necessary leverage. With today\u2019s rules, not many teams enter the offseason with cap space. The ones who do understand that extending an offer sheet to a player of Duren\u2019s caliber is a fool\u2019s errand, considering the Detroit Pistons would likely match it and bring him back, as is their right.<\/p>\n
A restricted free agent, the NBA\u2019s most powerful oxymoron, is left in purgatory.<\/p>\n
Why Jalen Duren is still a free agent<\/p>\n
Hunter Patterson and Jeshua Kidd<\/p>\n
Last offseason, four restricted free agents (Cam Thomas, Jonathan Kuminga, Josh Giddey and Quentin Grimes) lingered late into summer, just as Duren has done in 2026. (The Clippers\u2019 Bennedict Mathurin and the Nuggets\u2019 Peyton Watson are the other unsigned restricted free agents of note.) Three weeks after the start of free agency, Duren remains unsigned. Cap space around the league has dried up. The Pistons provide the greatest chance for him to receive his market value.<\/p>\n
Because he made All-NBA in 2025-26, he is eligible for a five-year, $287 million contract that would begin at 30 percent of the salary cap. But Duren, who averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on a No. 1 seed while earning All-NBA honors, certainly won\u2019t earn that much, not given the circumstances around him. Front offices are worried about the punitive penalties that come with crossing the second apron, a payroll threshold far above the luxury tax. Surpass it, and a team loses its ability to execute most types of trades and most kinds of signings. Additionally, he had a disappointing playoffs, with his scoring, rebounding and shooting efficiency all notably dropping.<\/p>\n
But Duren and the Pistons need each other. More than likely, they will have to compromise. One executive believes he has discovered a fitting one.<\/p>\n
The Athletic polled 13 members of rival front offices, asking what they would consider a \u201cfair\u201d contract for Duren. Respondents spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the situation freely.<\/p>\n
The Pistons\u2019 leverage is that no other team has the cap space to offer Duren a rich contract. But Duren\u2019s leverage is that he can accept the qualifying offer, which would entail returning to Detroit on a one-year, $9.6 million contract and becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer, able to sign with whomever he\u2019d like in 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Detroit might look like they have most of the leverage, given that there are no cap-space teams out there, they\u2019re royally f\u2014\u2013 if he takes the qualifying (offer) and walks next year,\u201d one respondent to the poll said. \u201cSo, I think leverage is relatively even.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two restricted free agents, Grimes and Thomas, accepted qualifying offers last offseason. Of course, they did not assume as much risk as Duren would. Detroit\u2019s current offer to Duren is significantly higher than the Brooklyn Nets\u2019 tiny offer was to Thomas. The Philadelphia 76ers didn\u2019t extend a formal offer to Grimes.<\/p>\n
One executive believes he\u2019s identified the fair deal for Duren and the Pistons: $204.5 million over five years.<\/p>\n
Here is how he came to that number: Hypothetically, if Duren were to sign the qualifying offer, then were to garner a four-year deal for the 25-percent max next summer, he would earn $204.5 million over the next five seasons. To save both sides a headache, the Pistons could pay him that right now.<\/p>\n
Yet, this exec is on the high end of the poll; $204.5 million, even though it\u2019s far below his max, is the second-most guaranteed money any of the respondents suggested.<\/p>\n
The largest proposed deal was $230 million over five years. Two executives considered $200 million over five years to be fair. The two other five-year deals were for $190 million and $180 million.<\/p>\n
The person who suggested the $190 million contract referenced the Pistons\u2019 other priorities from earlier in the summer, when they were reportedly preparing to offer guard Austin Reaves a four-year, $177 million contract before he re-upped with the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they were willing to give a max to Reaves, then they should be willing to do five years, $190 million for a younger player who made All-NBA at a more valuable position,\u201d the respondent said.<\/p>\n
The Pistons have a clean cap sheet moving forward. They currently sit $46 million below the luxury tax. The only large salary on their books for 2027-28 and beyond belongs to MVP candidate Cade Cunningham. Various rotation players \u2014 such as Duncan Robinson, John Collins and Isaiah Joe \u2014 are not guaranteed beyond 2026-27.<\/p>\n
Detroit would like to maintain its flexibility. After all, depending on how the Duren situation plays out, it could be a cap-space team in the coming years.<\/p>\n