On a Sunday night that ended with Detroit losing Game 7 by 31 points, the Pistons' offseason started a few hours early — and according to Game Theory's Sam Vecenie, the central question is whether Jalen Duren has just torched his case for a maximum contract.
"Has any player in a playoff run lost more money than what Jalen Duren did in this playoff run for Detroit?" Vecenie asked, opening his Detroit autopsy on The Game Theory Podcast.
The numbers behind that line are jarring. Duren averaged 19.5 points per game in the regular season as the centre piece next to Cade Cunningham. Across these playoffs, he averaged 10 points, eight-and-a-half rebounds and 2.1 assists — what Vecenie called "the biggest reduction in scoring of any player in playoff history, going from 19-and-a-half to 10-and-a-half points per game."
The collapse came against a Cleveland defence Duren never solved. Jarrett Allen's rim protection sat on top of the rolling pocket where Duren feasts in the regular season, and Evan Mobley's mobility erased the dump-offs and putbacks Duren relies on. On Sunday, Allen and Mobley combined for five offensive rebounds, the Cavaliers collected 14 as a team, and Duren — the player expected to lead Detroit's interior — was again unable to control the defensive glass.
"I thought that duo on the interior beat Jalen Duren, who's supposed to make $40 million a year next year," Vecenie said. "And that can't happen."
The complication for Pistons general manager Trajan Langdon is that the "do nothing" path does not really exist. Duren is expected to test the market and demand a max-level deal. The internal alternatives — Isaiah Stewart and Paul Reed — are not viable starting centres.
"Paul Reed is not a starting centre, correct," Simon said. "Paul Reed is really, really good in the role he's in. Maybe he could be a slightly bigger role, but it's like, OK, well, what are you going to do then if you just let Jalen Duren walk or even if you sign-and-trade Jalen Duren and get something back on the wing?"
Vecenie's central worry is not Duren in isolation. It is the long-term cost of pairing Duren with Ausar Thompson — Detroit's other non-shooting cornerstone — and trying to play them together in a playoff setting where the offence has to function.
"It's a Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson conversation. And which one?" Vecenie said. "I have not seen anything from them in the playoffs when those two play together that makes me think that they can have a functional offence in a playoff setting with those two on the court together."
Thompson, fresh off what Vecenie called a top-three or top-four Defensive Player of the Year season, will see his representation start contract negotiations near the Jalen Suggs number of around $35 million per year. Stack a near-max Duren deal on top of that and Detroit is committing more than fifty million dollars annually to two offensive non-shooters who, in this series, could not share the floor at the highest leverage moments.
Alternatives floated on the podcast ranged from a sign-and-trade to Brooklyn for Nic Claxton and draft capital, to a swap with Sacramento for Domantas Sabonis as an expiring contract. Neither, Vecenie conceded, was clearly correct. The honest answer — to whether Duren is a number two option on a contending team — was harder.
"I wasn't necessarily a believer that Jalen Duren was a number two option in the playoffs," Vecenie said. "And so even in the right context, I still think he probably needs to be your number three."
The undercurrent of Detroit's discussion was patience running out. The Pistons have moved from first-round exit last year to second-round exit this year, and Simon's plea on behalf of Pistons fans was simple.
"I'm tired of seeing them be patient. Let's go," he said. "You're not going to make another step next year if you just kind of stay status quo."
Vecenie's headline read on the whole picture was already typed before Sunday's game tipped off.
"Beyond the LeBron question, which will get a lot of play, the Jalen Duren question might be the biggest question for any team in this offseason — point blank."
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/jalen-duren-pistons-40-million-offseason-vecenie-game-7-may-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
