Piston’ Jalen Duren reportedly feeling ‘disrespected,’ to miss start of camp

Jalen Duren’s absence from Pistons media day won’t be a one-day matter. The restricted free agent also plans to miss the start of training camp Tuesday while he remains unsigned, ESPN reports.

Duren has declined Detroit’s five-year, $200 million offer. That’s a lot of guaranteed money to leave on the table, but the disagreement apparently goes beyond the number.

Sources told ESPN that Duren feels “disrespected by the process.” He believes the Pistons prioritized getting Ausar Thompson’s deal done ahead of his. Thompson agreed to a five-year, $155 million extension last week.

That doesn’t mean Detroit has stopped wanting Duren. The Pistons continue to say they hope to keep the 23-year-old center long term. Duren, though, is coming off an All-Star and third-team All-NBA season and believes he’s worth a max or near-max contract.

The stakes get more immediate Thursday. That’s the deadline for Duren to accept his $9.6 million qualifying offer, unless the Pistons agree to extend it. Taking the one-year deal would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer, but it would mean passing up the security of Detroit’s current offer.

We wrote Sunday that Duren was expected to miss media day and could miss camp, too. Now camp is here, and neither side has moved enough to get him on the floor.