The Detroit Pistons‘ biggest remaining offseason priority remains unfinished.
Not because negotiations with All-Star center Jalen Duren have stalled, but because the franchise is still waiting for a complicated series of trades to become official.
Speaking during a Bleacher Report livestream Monday, NBA insider Jake Fischer said Detroit’s pending transactions continue to affect the team’s offseason bookkeeping as it works toward a new contract with its restricted free-agent center.
“The answer there is no,” Fischer said when asked whether there was an update on Duren’s negotiations. “Detroit made the Isaiah Joe trade official today, and they’re still working on finalizing the trade of Isaiah Stewart to Memphis, and Memphis traded Santi Aldama to Dallas.”
Fischer added that the Pistons are still exploring whether those moves can be folded into an expanded multi-team transaction.
“There’s definitely still some opportunity to turn that into like a four-team, multi-team trade… I think that will help clear the accounting of what Detroit can really do there as well.”
Multi-Team Trade Remains the Key
Fischer expanded on that reporting Tuesday alongside Marc Stein in The Stein Line, noting the league continues waiting for several already-agreed deals—including Stewart to Memphis, Santi Aldama to Dallas and John Collins‘ sign-and-trade to Detroit—to be combined into one larger transaction.
The delay isn’t believed to be related to Duren himself.
Instead, Spotrac salary cap analyst Keith Smith explained that one of the players involved, Mouhamadou Gueye, cannot legally be traded until July 9, preventing the broader deal from becoming official sooner.
Once that transaction clears, Detroit should have a cleaner picture of its salary-cap situation heading into the final stages of Duren’s negotiations.
Pistons Continue Holding the Leverage
Getty All-Star center Jalen Duren is in a holding pattern after his market shrunk, giving the Detroit Pistons the leverage in their messy contract extension negotiation.
Even without an agreement, Detroit remains in a commanding position.
According to ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel, Duren and his representatives believe the 22-year-old deserves a maximum contract after earning his first All-Star selection and All-NBA Third Team honors.
The Pistons disagree.
League sources told Siegel the organization is reluctant to exceed approximately $35 million annually, viewing contracts signed by Alperen Sengun (five years, $185 million) and Jarrett Allen (three years, $90 million) as more realistic comparisons than a maximum extension.
Because Duren made an All-NBA team, Detroit could technically offer as much as five years and $287 million.
No rival team, however, currently has the salary-cap flexibility to force that issue with a maximum offer sheet.
Pistons Star’s Market Has All but Disappeared
That reality has dramatically weakened Duren’s negotiating leverage.
The Athletic’s Sam Amick previously reported that the Lakers twice met with Duren before pivoting to Walker Kessler, while Sacramento has also been mentioned as a potential suitor. Yet league sources continue to downplay any realistic path to prying Duren away from Detroit.
The Pistons have made clear they have no interest in a sign-and-trade and retain the right to match any offer sheet.
With virtually no teams capable of presenting one, Detroit remains firmly in control of the process.
Extension Appears to Be a Matter of When, Not If
Duren is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 65% from the field, earning his first All-Star appearance and helping lead the Pistons to 60 wins and the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed.
His postseason numbers dipped to 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds as Detroit was eliminated by Cleveland in the second round, but the organization continues to view him as a cornerstone alongside Cade Cunningham.
For now, the Pistons’ biggest offseason question isn’t whether Duren will return.
Based on Fischer’s latest reporting, it’s whether Detroit’s complicated trade paperwork is completed before the two sides finalize what increasingly appears to be an inevitable long-term agreement.
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