Detroit

Pistons

Cunningham was at the controls for Detroit as they kicked off their exhibition slate with nearly every key piece of their rotation, with the exception of center Jalen Duren, who recently signed a five-year, $200 million contract following a tumultuous offseason that came on the heels of a disappointing playoff performance. There are legitimate questions about whether Detroit’s decision not to add any secondary scoring or playmaking help for Cunningham this offseason will eventually backfire. However, it virtually guarantees that he’ll be in line for another high-volume offensive season. Cunningham should be a borderline first-round pick in all upcoming fantasy drafts.

This certainly felt like a bit of a showcase for Holland as he played a team-high 23 minutes off the bench, with 11 of those coming with Detroit’s main rotation in the first half alone. Amazingly, he led the team with 10 shot attempts in the opening half, but went just 1-of-4 from long range. The positive news is that he piled up an astounding five steals and also recorded a pair of blocks. The 21-year-old former lottery pick is a tantalizing talent that has shown flashes of big-time potential, but he remains a bit of a work in progress. It’ll be challenging for him to wrestle minutes away from offseason import John Collins, but he’s in line to play a big role for Detroit off the bench this season.

The standoff between Duren and the Pistons has finally ended, with the 6-foot-10 center receiving a fully guaranteed deal worth $40 million per year. Although Duren had the best regular season of his career to date and earned All-NBA honors, his postseason struggles factored into Detroit needing seven games to eliminate Orlando before falling to Cleveland in the second round. Thursday’s agreement comes less than two hours before the deadline for Duren to accept the one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer that would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer. With his immediate future in Detroit now secure, Duren offers third-round potential in standard fantasy leagues. The question is whether this saga will affect his performance, especially early in the season.

Thompson averaged a career-high 26 minutes last season, but his coach said the expectation will be for more minutes this season. How many more minutes is unclear, but we can expect the 23-year-old Thompson to be more of a full-time player this year. That’s a boost to Thompson’s fantasy value as he comes off the board in the eighth-round of fantasy drafts.

Duren is still embroiled in contract negotiations after turning down a $200 million deal from Detroit, and he could be headed toward signing a $9.6 million qualifying offer. The deadline to sign the qualifying offer is Thursday, and if Duren pursues that option, he would become an unrestricted free agent next summer. Sacramento has been linked to Duren as a team that would potentially pay him what he wants, but he could entertain offers from other suitors. John Collins is an interesting later-round flier in standard leagues, and Paul Reed makes a fine pick in deeper leagues.

The contract extension comes after Detroit finished as the Eastern Conference’s top seed for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Thompson started 72 of 73 regular-season games en route to earning a spot on the NBA All-Defensive First Team. He averaged 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game, and will enter his fourth NBA season with a chance to build on his overall game. A jump in offensive production would boost his fantasy value.

The average annual value of the reported offer exceeds the deal the Pistons reportedly offered Duren earlier this summer, which came to $35 million annually. According to the report, the restricted free agent is seriously considering signing his qualifying offer for the 2026-27 season, worth $9.6 million. That route would let Duren enter unrestricted free agency next summer, but it comes with considerable risk. Of course, there’s the injury factor, but it also opens the door for the Pistons to trade Duren to avoid losing him in free agency for nothing. Duren has until October 1 to sign the qualifying offer; waiting until then means he would miss the first week of training camp.

Reed’s contract of $5.6 million for this upcoming season wasn’t guaranteed previously, but now he is locked in well before the deadline. This, as well as trading Isaiah Stewart, shows the Pistons value Reed and plan to utilize him in a big way next season. However, they still have to sign Jalen Duren to solidify their center rotation.

Contract negotiations between Duren and the Pistons have dragged into September, just weeks before the team is scheduled to begin training camp. According to MacMahon, Detroit has offered the All-NBA center a five-year contract with an average annual salary of $35 million, while Duren is seeking an AAV of over $40 million. While he is coming off the best season of his NBA career, the 6-foot-10 center struggled in both of Detroit’s playoff series, which has likely factored into the contract negotiations. Also, the Pistons already have Cade Cunningham on a max deal, and they’re negotiating with Ausar Thompson as he enters the final year of his rookie deal. Duren is a top-50 fantasy player, but it’s fair to wonder how the contract talks will affect his performance in 2026-27 if the hard feelings linger.

Coming off the most productive season of his NBA career, Duren appeared to be in line for a significant payday this summer. However, a subpar showing in the postseason cast doubt on whether the center was worth the max contract that he hopes to land. With Duren a restricted free agent and few teams having the cap space to meet his asking price, the Pistons held the leverage when free agency began in late June. Rumors suggested the Lakers and Kings were interested in a sign-and-trade, but the former added Walker Kessler and the latter has not moved Domantas Sabonis. So, the staring contest between Duren and the Pistons continues, and it’s fair to wonder if the nature of the negotiations will affect the center’s production in 2026-27. As he showed last season, Duren has top-50 value in fantasy basketball, but he has to agree to a deal first.