DETROIT — Restricted free agent Jalen Duren wants a five-year contract from the Detroit Pistons, Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported. If no deal comes together by the end of September, one source briefed on the process told Stein, Duren is increasingly prepared to play the 2026-27 season on his $9.6 million qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Duren has until Oct. 1 to accept the qualifying offer, according to Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. Stein wrote that there will be considerable skepticism that the 22-year-old is “truly willing to go the qualifying offer route until it actually happens.”
Duren went 13th overall in the 2022 NBA Draft. He and Detroit did not reach a rookie scale extension before the October 2025 deadline. Stein first reported July 27 that Duren was weighing the qualifying offer. In July, The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson reported that Duren was underwhelmed by Detroit’s initial offer.
Jalen Duren Made All-NBA Third Team Before A 10.2-Point Playoff Run
In 70 games last season, Duren averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, and 2.0 assists on 65% shooting. He made his first All-Star team. On May 24, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team, and Cade Cunningham made the first team.
They were the first Pistons teammates to both make All-NBA since Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace in 2006, according to Front Office Sports. The All-NBA selection raised the ceiling on Duren’s next contract from five years and $239.3 million to five years and $287 million.
Detroit went 60-22 and finished first in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons beat the Orlando Magic in seven games in the first round and lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games in the conference semifinals.
Over those 14 playoff games, Duren averaged 10.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists while shooting 51.4% from the field. Detroit at times played Paul Reed in his place in the second half, the Free Press reported.
Detroit Pistons Have Not Engaged In Jalen Duren Sign-And-Trade Talks
Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said at the team’s end-of-season news conference on May 19 that Duren had a fantastic season and was one of the biggest contributors to the No. 1 seed. Langdon said the team looked forward “to coming together with his representation, getting a deal done,” according to HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto.
In June, Langdon said the Pistons wanted to re-sign Duren but acknowledged that negotiations had not progressed, Patterson reported.
Duren met with the Los Angeles Lakers at the start of free agency, Stein reported in July. No outside team has the cap space to offer him the maximum, which is capped at $177.4 million over four years for other teams, according to the Free Press. Detroit holds the right to match any offer sheet. The Pistons have also signaled all offseason that they are not interested in a sign-and-trade.
On an Aug. 25 Bleacher Report livestream, Stein Line colleague Jake Fischer said someone with knowledge of the situation believed Duren was on track for a four-year, $160 million deal.
Greg Monroe signed a $5.5 million qualifying offer with the Pistons on Sept. 8, 2014. The next July, Monroe agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Milwaukee Bucks.
Detroit also has rookie scale extension talks pending with Ausar Thompson, who made the All-Defensive First Team last season. Thompson finished third in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
