Jalen Durensaga of limited agency with Pistons was finally resolved Thursday night when he agreed to stay with Detroit for a new one five-year, $200 million a contract that is reportedly fully guaranteed with no options.
According to Sam Amick of The Athleticteam owner Tom Gores reached out to Duren on Thursday to help seal the deal. The 22-year-old big man reportedly felt disrespected by the way the negotiations went, and Amick hears that Gores “promised Duren and his family that he would help ensure a more positive Pistons experience.”
Despite , olive-branch, Amick, fences between the two sides fence between the two sides. The Pistons had some concerns about Duren’s “commitment to conditioning,” according to Amick, especially during his first three seasons. Duren, meanwhile, believed Detroit had short-changed him in their original contract offers The necklaces told him they viewed him as a maximum player when they met with him in early free agency, Amick notes.
Here’s more on Duren and his decision to re-sign with the Pistons:
- Although the process may have been a bit complicated, Hunter Patterson of The Athletic thinks it turned out better in the end. The Pistons signed Duren to a long-term deal, and Duren got the salary he expected, even if he didn’t reach the maximum amount ($287 million) he could have received. According to Patterson, Duren accepting his $9.6 million qualifying offer in unrestricted free agency next year would be a disastrous outcome for Detroit and a big risk for Duren. Patterson also believes the Pistons are the best fit for Duren on the court of the teams interested in him (the Bucks being the other).
- The Pistons have made it clear they don’t begrudge Duren for missing the start of training camp. By Amari Sankofa of The Detroit Free Press (subscriber link). “Negotiations are negotiations, so that’s all that’s going on right now”, president of basketball operations Troyan Langdon said Monday. “I have nothing against him or his group. We are trying to assemble a team. They are trying to get more money from the customer.” However, the onus is on the burgeoning young center to prove he is worth his new contract after some fans were put off by his camp’s public attempts to exert leverage, writes Sankofa.
- Head coach J. Bickerstaff on Friday played down any notion of “bitterness” between the team and Duren, according to Sankoff (Link to video on Twitter). “I don’t know where it came from“Bickerstaff”.These are negotiations. This is a business. There was never any bitterness between the group and our treatment of him, and I know how he feels about us.” Bickerstaff also expressed enthusiasm about bringing Duren back to a long-term contract. “We are obviously very happy to have him back” said Bickerstaff. “As I said yesterday, we expected him to always come back.“
