Jalen Duren heard the talk. He wanted Pistons fans to hear from him, too.
After signing a five-year, $200 million contract Friday, the center addressed a summer of speculation about his future in Detroit.
“I am a Detroit Piston. I want to be a Detroit Piston for life,” Duren said Sunday, via Omari Sankofa II of the Detroit Free Press. “I want to give everything I’ve got to the Pistons and the fans.”
That’s fairly direct. Reports during his restricted free agency suggested Duren felt disrespected by negotiations and might sign his one-year qualifying offer, then look elsewhere next summer. Duren described the process differently.
“We’re talking about negotiating a lot of money,” he said. “There’s no way I could be upset with that.”
He called it a chance to learn the business side of basketball. At 22, and coming off a third-team All-NBA season, Duren also understands the next step isn’t settled by a contract. His regular-season breakthrough gave way to a difficult playoff run.
“It was humbling, I just need to get better,” Duren said, via Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. “I’m not trying to run from anything.”
That may be the most useful thing he said all afternoon. The Pistons paid Duren because of what he has become. Detroit’s next climb will depend in part on what he does about the parts of his game that still need work.
Duren seems ready for that conversation. And, from the sound of it, he intends to keep having it in Detroit.
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