Pistons, Jalen Duren expected to remain in contract talks into August

Jalen Duren‘s restricted free agency isn’t expected to end anytime soon.

Appearing on ESPN, Shams Charania reported contract talks between the Pistons and the All-Star center are likely to continue “well into August,” with both sides remaining firm in their current positions.

“These talks between the Pistons and Jalen Duren, I’m told, will be going into August, well into August, potentially,” Charania said on NBA Today. “Both sides appear dug in on where they’re at.”

That lines up with earlier reporting from The Athletic’s Hunter Patterson, who wrote that Detroit remains confident a long-term agreement will eventually get done despite little progress in negotiations.

Duren, 22, is coming off a breakout season that included his first All-Star selection and third-team All-NBA honors. Despite that, the Pistons have reportedly stopped short of offering the maximum contract for which he became eligible.

Detroit still appears to hold most of the leverage.

No rival team has the cap space to present Duren with a significant offer sheet, leaving the qualifying offer as his primary alternative. Accepting that deal would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, though it would also mean passing on the security of a lucrative long-term contract.

Nothing has suggested the relationship between the sides has deteriorated.

Instead, this increasingly looks like a negotiation in which neither side feels pressured to blink first. The expectation around the league continues to be that Duren remains in Detroit. The bigger question now is how long both sides are willing to wait before finding common ground.