LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jaylen Brown, LaMelo Ball and Kawhi Leonard (maybe?) have been among the stars who changed teams. And yet, with the 2026-27 season set to begin next month, the contract status of an All-NBA player remains unsettled. Jalen Duren, the top restricted free agent in the 2026 class, has yet to reach an agreement on a new deal with the Detroit Pistons after earning third-team All-NBA honors and being a crucial cog on a team that won 60 games and finished atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Duren's summer has been largely uneventful, despite meetings with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings at the start of free agency. Very few teams had the cap space to offer Duren, 22, a max offer sheet that Detroit would've likely matched anyway. The Lakers had the means to make a run at Duren, but instead pivoted quickly to a sign-and-trade with Walker Kessler.
Since those meetings at the start of free agency, it's been mostly radio silence for the last two months, especially because Detroit reportedly has been unwilling to listen to potential sign-and-trade frameworks for Duren. Duren, who is eligible for a five-year, $287 million max deal (30% of the salary cap) under the Rose Rule, is seeking a contract in excess of $40 million per year, per ESPN. Meanwhile, Detroit is reportedly offering Duren a five-year deal in the range of $35 million annually.
It appears there is still a significant gap between Duren and Detroit, so what happens next with the season fast approaching? For the second consecutive year, multiple key restricted free agency contract disputes have stretched deep into the offseason. Last offseason, Cam Thomas signed his qualifying offer on Sept. 4, while Jonathan Kuminga (two-year deal) and Quentin Grimes (qualifying offer) waited until the week of the qualifying offer deadline.
Grimes cashed in on a four-year deal earlier this summer with the Lakers, while Kuminga signed a two-year deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. This offseason, the other key restricted free agents were Peyton Watson and Kessler, who both landed with new teams after agreeing to sign-and-trades. Kessler's deal with Los Angeles happened right when the moratorium began, while Watson landed with the Cleveland Cavaliers last month.
Duren's unofficial deadline to decide what's next is Oct. 1. It's the final day to sign the $9.6 million qualifying offer that would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer. Although the qualifying offer is set to expire on Oct. 1, it can be extended, but not past March 1.
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