Is Jalen Duren’s All NBA Leap CONCERNING for Detroit Pistons’ Salary Cap, Long-Term Team-Building?
Jalen Duren’s All-NBA leap could cost the Detroit Pistons millions—should fans be worried about a financial roadblock to championship contention? Ku Khahil examines how the new CBA’s 65-game rule and Duren’s breakout performances might push his extension to a staggering $50 million per year, raising major questions about future roster flexibility and the need to “win on the margins.” With Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson, and Duren set to command a massive chunk of the salary cap, every roster decision becomes magnified.
Ku also breaks down late-season storylines, from Cade Cunningham’s injury status and Detroit’s pursuit of a 60-win milestone, to creative lineup experiments for playoff prep. The episode analyzes recent transactions, including Bobi Klintman’s release and Tolu Smith’s addition for center depth, highlighting how the Pistons are navigating both immediate needs and long-term championship ambitions. Can Detroit’s core power another deep run, or will financial pressures reshape the offseason?
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19 Comments
Pistons should play it by ear, I don't think anyone else would offer Duren anything close to 50M. Trajan will not bid against himself. Regardless of whether he's all nba or not, 40M should be the cap for him. Or maybe Gores (with his purportedly shady deals in his other ventures) signs Duren to 30M and do the Steve Ballmer – Kawhi thing. Or the Brunson "leaving tens of millions on the table" thing.
Until Ausar proves himself on the offensive end consistently. He's not worth more than 20M-25M per? You do not overpay for defensive specialist. Duren is worth the rookie max he's shown improvement in every area. Ausar is only a better defender which is valuable but what is that worth? He's regressed offensively and even admitting his serious impact do you take the chance and give him or a near max deal. I say no but I'm not the GM. So agree to disagree.
If Duren and Ausar get paid, theres no world where Ron can resign right?
Ku👊🏼
Pay the man, start a dynasty
Update on cade and stew im in downsouth kuk
Have to pay Ausar. We can't win without him, and we can win without Duren.
19 yrs
I love duren but honestly with the same minutes tolu Smith doing the same thing might be better on defense we have a system on offense that can make a big without alot of skill be utilize way more
spoiler yes its always a bad thing, I don't understand why they want their players to be highly paid… Listen, you fucked yourself, this CBA essentially allows 1 all NBA 1 all star and a bunch of role players. It will be impossible to keep great talent together.
It's a bad thing. Pistons are going to be 200+ mill in salary next year. For reference, the Pacers, Knicks, Magic, & Cavs already have heavy talk about getting rid of core pieces (Pacers have already) – if things don't go great. These teams haven't been together that long. Enjoy it while it lasts!!! I don't see how we keep guys like Ausar or Holland if either should earn a fat contract. As soon as we lose in the ECF someone's gonna go in a couple years. The tax burden is massive on owners and the apron rules give them a good rational / excuse to say NO to a massive payroll on repeat.
Pay the man.
That’s a big risk to tie the amount of money into Duren and Ausar you referenced. Neither is a legit #2 option behind Cade. Game on the line are you putting the ball in Durens hands to get you a bucket? All your analytics sound good but that doesn’t mean you can win series with the trio you mentioned? The margins are thin for this squad and it’s difficult to see them having another gear. As a life long Pistons fan it’s great to see the turnaround and be relevant again. But just because you have the best record doesn’t mean you have the best team. Looking forward to the playoffs 💪🏽👍🏽
Of course i'm all for getting guys paid, and ive been high on Jalen Duren since watching him in HS next to Emoni Bates….but potentially 40-50M for a guy whose having a great contract year? Dallas drafted Derek Lively in Lukas 6th season in Dallas, and they made the finals that same season. Boston drafted Neemias Queta just a few seasons ago, he already gives you 70-80% of what Duren provides on offense and he's a better defender than Duren. The question in my mind really is, is Duren at 40-50M for the next 4 seasons more beneficial than a rim running big on a 4 year rookie deal? If you factor in the cap situation, my question marks/hesitancy surrounding Durens true potential as a 2nd option, plus the offensive fit concerns that still persist between Duren and Ausar/Ron (all limited shooters and Duren is the guy i probably trust least to hit perimeter shots)….then my answer is id probably just prefer to take my chances drafting a new big.
As much as I like Duren and recognise you're gonna have to pay him, its not ideal to be paying that kind of money to a big who can't space the floor or protect the rim. Not to mention whenever he's out it feels like Paul fills in and there isn't much of a drop off and he is a fraction of the cost.
I think the fear in paying Duren. Is what happen to Drummond after the pistons paid him. But Ku you said it we have Cade, and Ausur. Drummond didn’t have that. Hopefully these 3 can continue to hold themself accountable after this year and years to come.
Somebody's gonna have to put you in a super-max prison if you keep making videos like this.
I would add Jenkins to the must keeps too.
Isn't this all an inditment on Trajan for basically demanding that Duren PROVE IT before paying him. We all know there is a risk when paying a player based on what they might become, but here we are seeing there is also a big risk by waiting. I feel like a great GM is supposed to make that decision ahead of schedule based on the 3 seasons of NBA growth and hundreds of practices they've watched. I mean, the everyday fan can sign people to appropriate contracts if we just wait it out and base everything off what they are actually doing. I thought talent evaluators and lifelong basketball people were supposed to have an eye for talent that went beyond ours. My problem is that while Durens numbers have certainly gone up, he still hasn't shown the growth in many of the areas we all wanted to see before paying him. We are still all surprised when he even attempts a mid range shot. I suppose that means he still hasn't reached his ceiling, but to me, a max contract suggests he has those tools or you are certain that he will. I'll end with this, I'm fine signing him to whatever size contract, so long as Trajan knows it is tradeable, even if he doesn't get any better. If we still end up paying him based on what he might become, then what the heck did we wait for?
Man this 65 game rule is so stupid lol. Luka and Cade not making it after the seasons they had is just dumb