Detroit Pistons Offseason: 2026

[NYLion]

2 hours ago, 4hzglory said:

If it's that, I sure hope it's another team giving it to him or at worst case, we matched an offer sheet.  Like you have said, It seems completely silly to negotiate against yourself.  Offer 5/100-125 and tell him to go test the market.  If he comes back with an offer for 5/150 i'd likely match it, but if it's 5/180 or higher, I'd have a hard time doing it.  

I'm as down on Duren's playoff run as anybody but 5 years $100-125m is a major lowball offer. He'd easily get 5 years $150m on the open market even with his flaws. He was in line for something like 5 years $200m prior to the playoffs with him being an All Star and getting All NBA mention. I don't think his playoff performance in a relatively small sample size cut his potential contract in half. I think 5 years $150m is reasonable for all parties but would also understand if some wanted to move on from Duren completely.

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, NYLion said:

I'm as down on Duren's playoff run as anybody but 5 years $100-125m is a major lowball offer. He'd easily get 5 years $150m on the open market even with his flaws. He was in line for something like 5 years $200m prior to the playoffs with him being an All Star and getting All NBA mention. I don't think his playoff performance in a relatively small sample size cut his potential contract in half. I think 5 years $150m is reasonable for all parties but would also understand if some wanted to move on from Duren completely.

Which mythical team is giving him $30 million per?  

Only 2 or 3 teams have enough cap space to do that.  One of them being the Lakers and that only is true if they cut ties with LeBron completely.  If he retires, sure.  But if James plays basketball next year I find it hard to believer he wont be wearing purple and gold.

The Hawks could in theory get there.  But they have to cut ties with CJ and Kuminga to do it.  So I rate that as unlikely.  

That leaves Chicago and Brooklyn.  Nets have a center so unless they trade him, they are probably off the table.  Chicago is a legit threat with over $60 million in space to play with.  

One thing to remember, almost nobody signs offer sheets anymore.  Six players since 2019 have signed offer sheets, combined.  I don't think anyone has since 2023.  It is a bad way to acquire talent.

The big problem is, your cap space is tied up for the 48 hours Detroit decides if they want to match or not.  It actually could be longer if you agree to a deal on July 1st because you can't sign it until July 6th, then Detroit has until the 8th to decide if they match.  In a class that isn't great to begin with, it will be slim pickings on July 8th if Detroit matches.

The second reason nobody signs offer sheets is cost.  You almost always have to overpay the free agent to entice his current team not to match.  Overpaying for assets is rarely a good move.  

[Deleterious]

If I'm Ausar, I don't engage the Pistons in extension talks until the Duren situation is settled.  

Ausdar was the better player in the playoffs by quite a wide margin.  He has the better future IMO.  If Detroit gives Duren $30million+ then why would Ausar entertain any offers below the max?  Which would start the first year at just over $40 million per.

 

 

 

[Deleterious]

I wanted him at the deadline.  But I think this is enough to pass on him now.

 

[Deleterious]

3 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

So, I called YouTube TV about them adding WYMD-20 In Detroit. It doesn't sound like they will be. Does anyone know a streaming option? Does Xfinity or DirecTV carry it? I have 3 TVs and no antenna to get OTA.

Looks like Fubo and  DirectTV have it in Detroit.

Curious to see what local stations pick it up on the west side.  We're going to be out of the country the first three months of the year, so I guess it won't matter much for me.  

I'm the opposite of Duren.  Take the regular season off and show up for the playoffs.  

[Sports_Freak]

56 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Looks like Fubo and  DirectTV have it in Detroit.

Curious to see what local stations pick it up on the west side.  We're going to be out of the country the first three months of the year, so I guess it won't matter much for me.  

I'm the opposite of Duren.  Take the regular season off and show up for the playoffs.  

There may be not any playoffs for Detroit next season. With Boston and Indy healthy, it will tougher. And no sneaking up on teams as they rest their best players. This year was our chance. 

[buddha]

2 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Which mythical team is giving him $30 million per?  

Only 2 or 3 teams have enough cap space to do that.  One of them being the Lakers and that only is true if they cut ties with LeBron completely.  If he retires, sure.  But if James plays basketball next year I find it hard to believer he wont be wearing purple and gold.

The Hawks could in theory get there.  But they have to cut ties with CJ and Kuminga to do it.  So I rate that as unlikely.  

That leaves Chicago and Brooklyn.  Nets have a center so unless they trade him, they are probably off the table.  Chicago is a legit threat with over $60 million in space to play with.  

One thing to remember, almost nobody signs offer sheets anymore.  Six players since 2019 have signed offer sheets, combined.  I don't think anyone has since 2023.  It is a bad way to acquire talent.

The big problem is, your cap space is tied up for the 48 hours Detroit decides if they want to match or not.  It actually could be longer if you agree to a deal on July 1st because you can't sign it until July 6th, then Detroit has until the 8th to decide if they match.  In a class that isn't great to begin with, it will be slim pickings on July 8th if Detroit matches.

The second reason nobody signs offer sheets is cost.  You almost always have to overpay the free agent to entice his current team not to match.  Overpaying for assets is rarely a good move.  

the pistons will overpay duren AND ausar.

it would not shock me to see the bulls make a run at him.  and - not to futher whip this dead mare over here - it would not surprise me if new orleans discusses a sign and trade of some sort.  weaver drafted him and loves big men who rebound.

memphis sign and trade?

at the end of the day, the boring thing will happen: they will pay duren.  he's young and an all-star.  the easy thing to do is to pay him.  no one in the media will criticize you for that.  if you have a vision for the team that revolves around ausar/cade and you want shooting and you move duren, then you might be bold and THEN you'll get criticized.

[Deleterious]

The Bulls probably don't go after Duren right away for fear of missing on other free agents.  But if they strike out on their original targets and its July 10th, all the good free agents are gone, and Chicago has a dump truck full of cap space left.  That is when they scare me.

They throw a big offer at Duren and get their guy or worst case scenario, make a rival match a really overpriced contract.  

That is what happened with Ayton a few years ago.  Indiana missed on their original targets, and they didn't give Ayton the offer sheet until July 15th I think.  Phoenix matched and it was a disaster.  

[KL2]

11 hours ago, Deleterious said:

The Bulls probably don't go after Duren right away for fear of missing on other free agents.  But if they strike out on their original targets and its July 10th, all the good free agents are gone, and Chicago has a dump truck full of cap space left.  That is when they scare me.

They throw a big offer at Duren and get their guy or worst case scenario, make a rival match a really overpriced contract.  

That is what happened with Ayton a few years ago.  Indiana missed on their original targets, and they didn't give Ayton the offer sheet until July 15th I think.  Phoenix matched and it was a disaster.  

Your playoff loathe of Duran is clouding your thoughts on where he ranks as a free agent, who else is available and what other nba teams will do.

Nobody is gonna offer him this ridiculous low ball, the bulls aren’t going after better free agents cause there are few that are better and a bad playoff is a small sample for a young player.

[Deleterious]

1 hour ago, KL2 said:

Your playoff loathe of Duran is clouding your thoughts on where he ranks as a free agent, who else is available and what other nba teams will do.

Nobody is gonna offer him this ridiculous low ball, the bulls aren’t going after better free agents cause there are few that are better and a bad playoff is a small sample for a young player.

I have been banging this Duren drum for 3 years now.  His playoff performance did not form my opinion of him, it confirmed it.

Your Bulls comment is very odd.  Free agency isn't a 1v1 comp.  It's how you allocate the money over your entire roster.  Picking up Duren for $42 million this year or say Peyton Watson for $27 million and Robert Williams for $15 million.  

So for $42 million you can sign one player who cant shoot and doesn't play very good defense.  Or get two guys who both play excellent defense and one of them shoots 40% from three.  That is a better way for a team to spend $42 million than putting all of their eggs in the Duren basket.  Especially for a team like Chicago that really lacks talent.  

[NYLion]

19 hours ago, Deleterious said:

Which mythical team is giving him $30 million per?  

Only 2 or 3 teams have enough cap space to do that.  One of them being the Lakers and that only is true if they cut ties with LeBron completely.  If he retires, sure.  But if James plays basketball next year I find it hard to believer he wont be wearing purple and gold.

The Hawks could in theory get there.  But they have to cut ties with CJ and Kuminga to do it.  So I rate that as unlikely.  

That leaves Chicago and Brooklyn.  Nets have a center so unless they trade him, they are probably off the table.  Chicago is a legit threat with over $60 million in space to play with.  

One thing to remember, almost nobody signs offer sheets anymore.  Six players since 2019 have signed offer sheets, combined.  I don't think anyone has since 2023.  It is a bad way to acquire talent.

The big problem is, your cap space is tied up for the 48 hours Detroit decides if they want to match or not.  It actually could be longer if you agree to a deal on July 1st because you can't sign it until July 6th, then Detroit has until the 8th to decide if they match.  In a class that isn't great to begin with, it will be slim pickings on July 8th if Detroit matches.

The second reason nobody signs offer sheets is cost.  You almost always have to overpay the free agent to entice his current team not to match.  Overpaying for assets is rarely a good move.  

Never underestimate the stupidity of GMs. Duren is a 22 year old All Star with a lot of physical tools that GMs drool over and perceived growth potential, even the biggest haters have to admit that he did improve this regular season. There's no way in any scenario that he's getting less than 30m/yr long term regardless of a 14 game playoff sample size.

I'm far from a Duren fan and have stated as such around here for months that I don't think the Pistons should pay him what his market will likely dictate but I do believe there will be a pretty significant market for him despite what we saw in the last month and that number starts with a 30 at the very minimum IMO. Just look at the Ayton example for one.

Edited 7 hours ago by NYLion

[Betrayer]

I'm aligned with what Bryce said on Duren. The most he's comfortable with offering is around 28M. That's where I'm at as well. It's also what Allen makes and he outplayed Duren.

Now, he also said he thinks they'll wind up paying more that that, which is probably also true (sadly). End of the day, I'm not going over 30M. If he wants more he needs to find a sign and trade.

Of course, I expect that Sam is right and the team will sign him for somewhere between 35-40M because they feel like they have to.

 

[Betrayer]

20 hours ago, Sports_Freak said:

There may be not any playoffs for Detroit next season. With Boston and Indy healthy, it will tougher. And no sneaking up on teams as they rest their best players. This year was our chance. 

I'm sure the Pacers will be a playoff team with Carlisle at the helm, but Turner's offensive ability was a big part of their success. Also Haliburton has a long way to go to get back in shape. I wouldn't put them in a tier above the Pistons.

Boston was already the #2 seed and got bounced in round 1. They were already in the playoffs, so no change there.

Giannis coming back and going to Miami could add a new team to the playoff mix.

It's not like the Pistons were the 7th seed, so we don't have to worry about a couple new playoff teams coming in and pushing us out the bottom. They'll be in the playoffs again and probably for the next several years as long as Cade and Ausar are here.

[buddha]

1 hour ago, Betrayer said:

I'm sure the Pacers will be a playoff team with Carlisle at the helm, but Turner's offensive ability was a big part of their success. Also Haliburton has a long way to go to get back in shape. I wouldn't put them in a tier above the Pistons.

Boston was already the #2 seed and got bounced in round 1. They were already in the playoffs, so no change there.

Giannis coming back and going to Miami could add a new team to the playoff mix.

It's not like the Pistons were the 7th seed, so we don't have to worry about a couple new playoff teams coming in and pushing us out the bottom. They'll be in the playoffs again and probably for the next several years as long as Cade and Ausar are here.

indiana has zubac now.  if hali can play theyre going to be the best team in the east next year.

pistons will be in the mix in the regular season because jb has them playing hard all season long.  assuming they re-sign duren and do little else other than mess with the margins, the result is likely to be the same as this year as soon as they run up against a team with size.

just like we all said all year long.

the hope is that duren is still getting better.  that could happen.  its also just as likely that he is who he is at this point.

but i definitely think ausar can get better.  maybe not a lock down 3 point shooter, bit enough of a ball handler to take the heat off cade, and just enough of an outside threat to make teams take him seriously.

[Betrayer]

30 minutes ago, buddha said:

indiana has zubac now.  if hali can play theyre going to be the best team in the east next year.

The Pacers entire gimmick was speed. Run after misses, run after makes, get a shot up quick. Zubac is the opposite of that. I need to see him in that system before I buy it translating as well as a guy like Turner who can space the floor. Also, if you've seen the recent pictures of Haliburton...well, we're going to have to see about his conditioning. Siakam is Tobias' age, so he's not getting any younger. Mathurin is gone.

They have a solid squad, but first in the East? I don't buy it.

[NYLion]

4 hours ago, Betrayer said:

I'm aligned with what Bryce said on Duren. The most he's comfortable with offering is around 28M. That's where I'm at as well. It's also what Allen makes and he outplayed Duren.

Now, he also said he thinks they'll wind up paying more that that, which is probably also true (sadly). End of the day, I'm not going over 30M. If he wants more he needs to find a sign and trade.

Of course, I expect that Sam is right and the team will sign him for somewhere between 35-40M because they feel like they have to.

 

Maybe that's what Bryce says or what Betrayer and NYLion don't want to pay him and I agree with Bryce ftr but Bryce and us fans don't set the market, the market will dictate that Duren will likely be paid north of $30m. Again, we can continue to talk about his flaws as fans but the reality is that he's a 22 year old All Star and potential All NBA selection that averaged 19.5 pts and 10.5 rebounds which will dictate that he'll get a big pay day from somebody. If Hartenstein got near $30m when he had bench player numbers, Duren will likely come in north of that. Am I comfortable paying him that? No, but that's what his market will likely be whether we like it or not.

Edited 1 hour ago by NYLion

[buddha]

On 5/21/2026 at 6:13 PM, Betrayer said:

Great breakdown. I usually find Bryce to be a bit passive for my tastes but he was adamant that this is the offseason to move forward for real.
 

They aren’t comfortable paying JD north of 30M but think Detroit will pay him mid to upper 30s anyway. They discussed the idea of dangling him to NO for Murphy. They also discuss some draft options, talk about Ausar, Ron, over/under the cap, and more. Great show. 

that was a great discussion.

as i have said repeatedly, it would be GM malpratice NOT to call troy weaver and ask about murphy for duren.  i can almost guantee you that they would give you murphy AND PICKS for duren.  guran-****ing-teed.

i also liked them refer to weaver as the gift that keeps on giving to pistons fans in forcing them to create a team with zero shooting around cade because of his ausar, duren, ivey picks.

also, they have a reasonable view of duren, unlike pistons podcasters who seem to view him much more positively.  i love ku, but duren is his blind spot.

another possibility was duren to milwaukee for turner.  detroit needs the stretch big/rim protector brook lopez type in the worst way.  

but as they concede, the easiest path for detroit is to re-sign duren and ausar and continue to fiddle on the margins.  which we all know is exactly what trajan will do.

[Deleterious]

The Pacers couldn't get Turner out of town fast enough.  Now Milwaukee wants him gone.  Take the hint.  

[buddha]

5 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

The Pacers couldn't get Turner out of town fast enough.  Now Milwaukee wants him gone.  Take the hint.  

who do you want, mr contrarian?

[Deleterious]

30 minutes ago, NYLion said:

Maybe that's what Bryce says or what Betrayer and NYLion don't want to pay him and I agree with Bryce ftr but Bryce and us fans don't set the market, the market will dictate that Duren will likely be paid north of $30m. Again, we can continue to talk about his flaws as fans but the reality is that he's a 22 year old All Star and potential All NBA selection that averaged 19.5 pts and 10.5 rebounds which will dictate that he'll get a big pay day from somebody. If Hartenstein got near $30m when he had bench player numbers, Duren will likely come in north of that. Am I comfortable paying him that? No, but that's what his market will likely be whether we like it or not.

Asking again, which team is setting this market you keep talking about?

Hartenstein is a fantastic defender, his play translates to the playoffs.  

[NYLion]

5 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Asking again, which team is setting this market you keep talking about?

Hartenstein is a fantastic defender, his play translates to the playoffs.  

If a team wants to offer sheet Duren, they'll move around money to make the contract tough for the Pistons to match. I do believe there is a market for Duren out there for $30m+/yr quite easily based on what I mentioned above. In fairness, Hartenstein was a little different because he was a UFA but, yeah, he was a guy that was a glorified bench player going into free agency like an Isiah Stewart with more size. He was far from an All Star and a potential third All NBA selection so I do believe there will be a fairly robust market for Duren. Funny enough, as I'm listening to the video right now, Sam Vecenie said exactly what I'm saying.

Edited 1 hour ago by NYLion

[Deleterious]

5 minutes ago, buddha said:

who do you want, mr contrarian?

Not sure disagreeing with your bad ideas makes me a contrarian.

I would never spend big money on the center position, except for a few guys like Jokic Victor.  Give me a guy that plays some defense and rebounds, and I'm good.  I would almost always have a young guy on a cheap rookie contract in that spot.  You don't need a great center in today's game.  

[Deleterious]

8 minutes ago, NYLion said:

If a team wants to offer sheet Duren, they'll move around money to make the contract tough for the Pistons to match. I do believe there is a market for Duren out there for $30m+/yr quite easily based on what I mentioned above. In fairness, Hartenstein was a little different because he was a UFA but, yeah, he was a guy that was a glorified bench player going into free agency like an Isiah Stewart with more size. He was far from an All Star and a potential third All NBA selection so I do believe there will be a fairly robust market for Duren. Funny enough, as I'm listening to the video right now, Sam Vecenie said exactly what I'm saying.

Your answer is not realistic at all.

No team is moving assets to clear cap space while there is a chance Detroit matches the offer.  Can you imagine what a disaster that would be?  You trade away assets then don't get your guy.  Wow.  

[NYLion]

11 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Your answer is not realistic at all.

No team is moving assets to clear cap space while there is a chance Detroit matches the offer.  Can you imagine what a disaster that would be?  You trade away assets then don't get your guy.  Wow.  

It won't take much for the Lakers to move around enough money to throw a big offer sheet his way, certainly no assets that they'd be crying over losing. I fully believe there is a market for him at $30m+ and both guys in the video, Sam and Bryce, agree. I'm not a fan of this btw, I think it's a mistake if Duren doesn't show some real growth in critical areas especially defensively but his regular season improvements were significant enough to create a robust market for him IMO.

Edited 52 minutes ago by NYLion

[Deleterious]

33 minutes ago, NYLion said:

It won't take much for the Lakers to move around enough money to throw a big offer sheet his way, certainly no assets that they'd be crying over losing. I fully believe there is a market for him at $30m+ and both guys in the video, Sam and Bryce, agree. I'm not a fan of this btw, I think it's a mistake if Duren doesn't show some real growth in critical areas especially defensively but his regular season improvements were significant enough to create a robust market for him IMO.

They would have to send out north of $40 million in salary.  No other teams are eating that much without requiring draft picks as compensation.  Bare minimum would be one first, and at that large of a number, most likely two.

No team is ever trading away two first round picks to sign a guy to an offer sheet where his original team can still match.  

If Lebron retires or goes to another team then LA could have space and possibly be a player for Duren.  Outside of that, I don't see it happening.