New Jalen Duren Rumors Update Contract Talks, Pistons Future After Receiving Qualifying Offer

The start of the Detroit Pistons' 2026-27 season is less than one month away, and big man Jalen Duren still doesn't have a new deal.

NBA insider Marc Stein reported Thursday that "Duren is increasingly prepared to play out the coming season on his $9.6 million qualifying offer—with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer—if no deal with Detroit materializes by the end of September."

Stein explained that Duren is looking for a "lucrative" five-year deal, although "there is no team in the marketplace with salary cap space to make a run at Duren that exerts pressure on the Pistons to increase their offers."

On the surface, a 22-year-old who was just selected to the All-NBA Third Team for the club that finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference having to go with the qualifying offer would be a rather shocking development.

Logic would dictate someone with that profile would get a number of lucrative offers, including one from the team that he's played for during the last four years.

The Memphis product was also a double-double machine who averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 65 percent from the field. He also finished 11th in Defensive Player of the Year voting, underscoring his ability to impact the game in a number of ways.

However, the narrative around Duren changed drastically in the playoffs.

He became nearly unplayable for stretches in Detroit's second-round loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. His poor outside shooting allowed Cleveland defenders to easily help off him and cut off driving lanes for Cade Cunningham. His poor free-throw shooting also became an issue at times.

It wasn't just the inability to space the floor, as he wasn't as effective on the glass as he normally is and tallied four rebounds in Game 3, two rebounds in Game 4 and five rebounds in Game 5.

It was easy to question how much a player like Duren elevates the ceiling for a championship contender in the aftermath of the playoff loss, especially in the modern-day game that is so reliant on spacing the floor on the offensive end.

With that as the backdrop, the deals he was looking for simply haven't come in this offseason. And he may find himself playing on the qualifying offer as a result.