The Pistons’ talks with Jalen Duren are getting uglier by the week, and the gap sounds real. A source told Kurt Helin of NBC Sports that the negotiations have turned “noxious” as they stretch into late summer, with Detroit trying to walk the line between paying Duren enough to keep him content and avoiding an overpay.
Duren, for his part, is said to believe he has already done enough to land a max contract after what he views as an All-Star and All-NBA season. But as a restricted free agent, he doesn’t have much leverage to force the Pistons in that direction. He is eligible for a “Rose rule” deal worth 30% of the salary cap - as much as $287MM over five years - though Helin suggested Duren might be willing to settle for something closer to Victor Wembanyama’s five-year, $239MM deal at 25% of the cap.
Detroit’s side, according to the report, has been keeping its offers to just over $30MM per year. Helin noted that figure is in the neighborhood of what the Lakers gave Walker Kessler and below what Alperen Sengun is making in Houston. Duren can still take the Pistons’ $9.6MM qualifying offer, but doing so would mean walking away from a huge amount of guaranteed money.
The tension around the deal has also shown up publicly. Helin pointed to comments Vincent Goodwill made on The Hoop Collective podcast, where he described friction between Duren and the team.
“There’s certain things that a player should not have to hear,” Goodwill said. “You know what I mean?
There’s certain things that a player does not have to hear when the messaging comes back about why you’re not getting what you believe to be your value.”
In Detroit, Chaz Lanier is trying to turn a strong Las Vegas Summer League into something bigger. Coty M.
Davis of The Detroit News reported that the second-year guard wants to show the Pistons he’s more than just a shooter after averaging 17.4 points per game in Las Vegas while hitting 51.1% from three. Lanier said, “This whole summer I’ve been very intentional about getting better in different areas,” Lanier said.
“To play for (coach) J.B. (Bickerstaff), the first thing you have to do is be a really good team defender, and I’ve been very intentional about that.
I’ve also been intentional about adopting an aggressive mentality and taking my shots, not passing up anything - just honing in on all of the small things of my game.”
Over in Chicago, Tiago Splitter’s ability to mold young players is already part of the conversation. Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times looked at whether the Bulls’ new coach can help develop prospects the way he did with Deni Avdija in Portland, with third-year forward Matas Buzelis and rookie Caleb Wilson drawing the most attention.
Splitter made clear that Wilson’s growth won’t be a straight line. “(Everyone has) got to understand this is a process and not every night is going to be sunny and make all the shots,” Splitter said.
“It’s going to be up and down. But the trajectory has to be on an upward motion.
That’s how we see it and part of the development. (Wilson has) got to also understand that part and that we’ve got a process going (for the) long run.”
The Pacers also made a business move, announcing a new partnership with DAZN for their local broadcasts. Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star reported the change, noting the team was among those whose games had previously been carried by Main Street Sports Group.
In Other News...
Pacers Linked To Veteran Reunion That Could Help A Finals Push
The Pacers roster shuffle left them with a little flexibility, and that has naturally turned attention toward a familiar face. After waiving Ethan Thompson and signing Braden Smith to a two-way contract, Indiana still has an open spot, and James Johnson has emerged as a possible reunion candidate for a club trying to keep its rotation steady while staying in the mix for a Finals push.
Johnson is the sort of veteran addition teams tend to revisit when the games get bigger and the margin for error gets smaller. He has bounced around the league, has already given Indiana a useful bench presence before, and brings the kind of leadership and locker room value that can matter as much as on-court minutes in a deep postseason run. Whether the Pacers decide to go that route remains the part worth watching. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers Still Need Johnny Furphy To Answer One Lingering Bench Question
Johnny Furphys second NBA season has offered a little more runway, but not nearly enough clarity for the Pacers to feel settled about his role. The former Kansas second-round pick has appeared in 85 of a possible 164 games over his first two years, and last Februarys ACL injury only added another layer of interruption to a development path that has already been uneven. Indiana has seen enough to keep him in the conversation as a backup wing, especially with his size and youth, but the overall package still feels more like a work in progress than a finished rotation piece.
The encouraging part is that Furphy has handled more minutes and shown some scoring growth when hes been on the floor. The part Indiana still needs answered is whether the shot can become reliable enough to translate those flashes into steady NBA production. Until that happens, his case is less about what he has already become and more about whether he can prove he belongs in a bench role the Pacers can actually count on. [Read more 🡒]
Pacers May Need One Uncomfortable Rotation Change To Fix Their Offense
The Pacers are still built around the idea that Tyrese Haliburton can lift the offense back toward its usual level, but the bigger question may be where the points are supposed to come from when the starters sit. Indianas bench has been described as light on scoring, and that makes the second unit more than a depth issue - it becomes a structural problem for a team that wants enough balance to keep pressure on defenses all night.
One possible answer is uncomfortable only because it changes the usual pecking order: starting Kelly Oubre Jr. and letting Andrew Nembhard become a true sixth-man scoring option. Nembhard has the kind of game that could steady the reserves and give the Pacers a more reliable punch off the bench, even if the leagues old divide between starters and reserves has blurred. For Indiana, the real aim is simpler than labels - find enough scoring in the right places to keep the offense from flattening when the rotation turns over. [Read more 🡒]