[Amick] 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.
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.
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.
The Pistons, meanwhile, are known to be on the market for a significant roster upgrade this summer. League sources say they had serious interest in Austin Reaves before he re-signed with the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday, and they’ve also been tied to Brown, Leonard and Tyler Herro (who was traded from the Miami Heat to the Milwaukee Bucks in the Giannis Antetokounmpo deal). Detroit has plenty of other in-house business to tend to as well, as 23-year-old, first-team All-Defense selection Ausar Thompson is eligible for an extension that could top out at five years and a combined $162 million.