All-NBA forward Jalen Duren was underwhelmed by the Detroit Pistons’ initial offer in restricted free agency and is planning to explore sign-and-trade scenarios when they are permitted on Tuesday, league sources told The Athletic.The negotiation between the 22-year-old and the Pistons was widely expected to be challenging, as he had an elite regular season that helped Detroit finish with the Eastern Conference’s best record (60-22) only to struggle mightily in the playoffs en route to the team’s second-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet because he was selected to the All-NBA third team, Duren is eligible for a five-year, $287.1 million extension that would account for 30 percent of the Pistons’ salary cap.League sources say the gap between the two sides is large enough that Duren is now considering ways to land elsewhere, with the sign-and-trade route deemed preferable to signing an offer sheet with another team that the Pistons could, and likely would, match. And with some of the game’s best players potentially available this summer, including the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown and the LA Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard, the question now becomes whether the Pistons might be willing to engage in those sorts of scenarios when that time comes.
Jalen Duren’s future with Pistons in doubt as extension talks stall: Sources
All-NBA forward Jalen Duren was underwhelmed by the Detroit Pistons’ initial offer in restricted free agency and is planning to explore sign-and-trade scenarios when they are permitted on Tuesday, league sources told The Athletic. The negotiation between the 22-year-old and the Pistons was widely expected to be challenging, as he had an elite regular season that helped Detroit finish with the Eastern Conference’s best record (60-22) only to struggle mightily in the playoffs en route to the team’s second-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yet because he was selected to the All-NBA...










