After a Game 7 meltdown kept them from reaching the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2008, the Detroit Pistons will watch the NBA Finals like the rest of us.Detroit is embarking on a pivotal offseason full of questions about how to reach the stage the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs are starring on.How should the Pistons handle Jalen Duren’s impending restricted free agency? Is it time for Detroit’s front office to make a big-swing trade after its 60-win season? What position do the Pistons need the biggest upgrade in? We tackle all of those questions and more here in the first Detroit mailbag of the offseason.Questions have been lightly edited for length and clarity.What’s a reasonable expectation for the Pistons’ process with Duren’s restricted free agency? Would they pre-empt other offers by paying a big (roughly $40 million-plus) number up front? Or would they make Duren’s camp shop for a deal first, that they then match? — Youssif A.Considering Duren made the All-NBA third team, his “big number” would exceed $40 million annually. He’s now eligible for a contract worth 30 percent of Detroit’s salary cap with an eight percent raise each year. The projected total value of his deal, if the Pistons decided to give him the max, would be $287.1 million over five years with an average annual value of $57.4 million.Duren would make $49.5 million starting next season with the final year of his deal in 2030-31, assuming Detroit didn’t extend him before then, being roughly $65.3 million. I don’t expect the front office to offer Duren the max, nor do I expect the Pistons to make Duren’s camp shop for a deal, though they can offer Duren more than any other team.There’s a general sense around the league, as things stand today, that negotiations likely began far apart and will eventually come to a middle ground in the ballpark of a five-year, $200 million to $220 million deal — landing Duren an average annual value of $40 million to $44 million. Duren underperformed during the postseason, but the fact remains he made his first All-Star appearance and All-NBA third selection.Plus, he’ll start next season at 22 years old.Detroit will do everything it can to ensure Duren is around for the foreseeable future. Even with Duren’s playoff struggles, Pistons officials have continued to express confidence in the young big man and still see him as a pivotal part of their plan. I don’t expect the organization to give up on a player of Duren’s age with the upside he possesses, who’s already made strides from his rookie season.Is LA Clippers wing Kawhi Leonard a realistic trade target? If so, would they have to give up Duren or Ausar Thompson? — Anthony R.He could be realistic, but I don’t think Leonard would make the most sense unless there is a guarantee the two-time Finals MVP would want to be around long term.Yes, he’s on the final year of his contract and owed $50.3 million next season. But he’s an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027 with full autonomy to go wherever he pleases. Neither Duren nor Thompson would be sensible to include in a deal for Leonard when he’d essentially be a rental, though one of the two would likely be requested by the Clippers.As we’ve seen previously with Leonard and the Toronto Raptors, even winning a title isn’t enough to keep him around long term. What’s more, as one rival executive from another team that has an interest in Leonard shared with The Athletic, there is skepticism that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer is truly willing to trade Leonard.Since Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon has been at the helm, he’s prioritized optionality. Neither Duren, 22, nor Thompson, 23, has reached their prime. It’d be a short-sighted move to ship either of them off for a player in Leonard, who turns 35 on June 29 with no guarantee he’d want to be around for the bulk of Cade Cunningham’s best years.Someone like New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy, who will enter next season on the second year of his four-year, $112 million deal, could be more interesting. He turns 26 on June 18 and has increased his points, rebounds and assists in each of his first five years in the league. Murphy posted 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals on 47/38/89 shooting splits in his 2025-26 campaign.Ron Holland II, Isaiah Stewart — given how well backup big Paul Reed played anytime his number was called — and Caris LeVert are likely the Pistons’ best assets in trade talks. Holland will enter next season at 21 and seems to have an abundance of untapped potential. Stewart, who turned 25 in May, is one of the best rim protectors in the league and could thrive in an expanded role.