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Jalen Duren agrees to five-year, $200 million Pistons deal, reports say

The reported agreement ends Detroit’s contract impasse with its All-Star center after he missed the start of training camp.

By TSP Staff
Jalen Duren speaks with Detroit Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Jalen Duren speaks with Pistons coach J.B. Bickerstaff in a file photograph accompanying the October 2 AP report. · Credit: Associated Press, via CBS Detroit

Jalen Duren has agreed to a five-year, $200 million contract with the Detroit Pistons, according to reports published late Thursday. Yahoo Sports reported the agreement after ESPN’s Shams Charania broke the news, with the money described as fully guaranteed.

The Associated Press separately confirmed the agreement with a person familiar with it. Its Friday report said the Pistons had not yet announced the signing.

Duren accepted the offer shortly before the 11:59 p.m. Eastern deadline on his one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer. The five-year total averages $40 million per season, though that arithmetic does not establish the salary payable in any individual year.

The end of Detroit’s camp impasse

Duren was absent from Detroit’s initial training-camp roster while the sides continued negotiations. The agreement follows the unsigned start to camp, removing a major unresolved contract question around the Pistons’ center.

NBA.com’s report places the new deal after Duren’s first All-Star selection and a place on the All-NBA third team. He helped Detroit finish with 60 wins and the Eastern Conference’s top seed last season.

The postseason produced a less productive finish. Duren averaged 10.2 points in the playoffs as Detroit won a seven-game first-round series against Orlando before losing to Cleveland in seven games in the second round.

Selected 13th in the 2022 draft, Duren was acquired by Detroit on draft night and has spent his first four NBA seasons with the Pistons. The reported contract would keep him with the organization for the next phase of a team that has already reached the top of the regular-season standings.