Pistons Turn Down Trade for 3-Time All-Star

September 17, 2026 ,
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The Detroit Pistons have a Jalen Duren problem. Their starting center is a restricted free agent and is refusing to accept anything less than $200 million on a new contract. The Pistons aren't prepared to go that high (very, very close, yes, but $200M, no).

According to Brett Siegel of Clutch Points, the Pistons turned down a sign-and-trade offer from the Sacramento Kings (who ARE willing to give Duren that max contract) that would have sent three-time All-Star Domantas Sabonis to Detroit. 

“There was a trade on the table from the Kings, a sign-and-trade, for Jalen Duren. They were willing to offer Domantas Sabonis to the Pistons, but that’s not what the Pistons want. They want to bring Jalen Duren back and secure him on a long-term deal."

And this is at the crux of the issue for the Pistons trying to get Duren signed. The player is aware that the Kings badly want him, and he wants to play for them. He also knows that Sacramento is ready to give Duren the full max deal that he's looking for, and it seems that he is seriously thinking about taking the one-year qualifying offer from Detroit now, and then going to SacTown as an unrestricted free agent next summer.

But that would mean leaving about $180 million dollars on the table. The QO is worth $9.6M, while Detroit is rumored to be offering $190M over five years.

There is some bad blood between the sides, and Duren has said he feels disrespected by the Pistons for not coming up to his ask.

Hard to feel disrespected when someone offers you $190M, but that's Duren's stance, and he's sticking to it. At least for now. We'll see what happens when training starts in less than two weeks and he's still without a contract...

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