Pistons’ Jalen Duren Receives Qualifying Offer

The Pistons have tendered a qualifying offer to Jalen Duren, officially making him a restricted free agent, a league source tells Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

The move is mostly procedural since keeping Duren is an offseason priority in Detroit, and the QO gives the team the option to match any offers he receives in free agency. As Smith notes, the more important question is how much the Pistons are willing to spend to re-sign Duren, who is eligible to receive up to 30% of the cap in his next deal.

Duren is coming off a very strong regular season, making his first All-Star team and averaging 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 70 games while shooting 65% from the field. He also earned third-team All-NBA honors and received votes for Defensive Player of the Year.

Questions emerged in the playoffs, however, as he slipped to 10.2 PPG and 8.5 boards in two seven-game series against Orlando and Cleveland. He was particularly ineffective against the Cavs, as the Pistons often turned to veteran big man Paul Reed in his place.

President of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said last week they “really want” to keep the 22-year-old big man, but no progress had been made so far.

The Pistons have exclusive negotiating rights with Duren until the start of free agency on June 30. If he does reach free agency, he’ll be one of the top names on the market, with the Lakers, Nets and Bulls among the teams expected to be interested.