The Detroit Pistons have tabled a proposal hovering around 190 million dollars over five seasons to extend Jalen Duren. It’s not enough for a center who has just shown in the playoffs that his current value may be lower (performance and potential are not the same), and who is prepared to reshuffle the deck for a few extra million if necessary.
Because Jalen Duren has fixed a ceiling in his mind and he has no intention of dropping below it: 200 million.
Sam Amick and Hunter Patterson reveal this today for The Athletic. The information they bring introduces new numbers into a negotiation that seems closer to breaking than to being resolved with a friendly handshake. Compared to the 35 million per year we had reported on NBAManiacs, the latest offer captured by the American outlet places the average at around 38 million per season. The player’s demands start at 40.
On paper, that’s roughly ten million apart across five seasons. Although the real gap also depends on the contract structure: Amick and Patterson emphasize that including player or team options could significantly influence the final figures.
Amen Thompson as a Bargaining Chip
But the key question here: what drives Duren to insist on not dipping below two hundred? The answer lies in his perceived self-worth benchmark. Amen Thompson, the Rockets’ guard.
The Rockets’ combo guard has just agreed with Houston to an extension of 208 million over five years, despite not having been an All-Star or All-NBA last season. The Pistons’ center, for his part, earned both honors.
The comparison, we can’t deny, strengthens his negotiating position. Individual awards carry substantial weight in the NBA. And at 22 years old, Duren helped the Pistons finish with the best record in the East, being a key piece in their system, even though his performance dipped noticeably in the playoffs, where Detroit was eliminated by Cleveland in the second round.
The center, recall, can opt, under the league agreement, for a contract of up to 287 million over five seasons. The 200 million “he would settle for,” therefore, are well below that ceiling. And
The Pistons are very close… only ten million apart. But Duren seems to have reached his negotiating ceiling and isn’t willing to give up another dollar.
And not to be missed, the franchise most willing to cast its line into this increasingly turbulent river is mentioned: the Sacramento Kings.
