Jalen Duren reportedly suffers from surprisingly low view within Pistons organization

"I'll say this as somebody who's watched them closely," Goodwill said. "For one – and I don't know if this is news or anything like that, but – I think there's a lot of people within the Pistons organization that hold [Thompson] as the second-best player on this team, and not Jalen Duren, even though Duren made the All-Star team."

If that is the perspective of the Pistons front office, it is certainly one that is not shared universally across NBA teams, analysts or fans. Cohost Tim MacMahon, earlier in the same conversation, highlighted his own primary issue with the defensive wing.

"My thing is, he's just such a limited offensive player," MacMahon said, a point that host Brian Windhorst strongly agreed with, and an area in which most agree that Duren has the advantage.

Regardless, Goodwill believes that the comparative standing of Thompson and Duren in Detroit may be a major factor in the latter's contract saga.

"That [perspective] affects these discussions," Goodwill said.

And MacMahon added, "That's been reflected in Duren's contract negotiations, over two summers now, that are still unresolved."

Duren is reportedly asking for a massive 25% max contract, and the lack of substantial buzz around the league for the center, let alone progress on a new deal with the only franchise he's ever known, should make it clear that his fair market value is not quite as high as he thinks. 

But if president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon and the Pistons front office feel comfortable gambling on Thompson's defense over Duren's versatility, they will need to be prepared to pay the price if the two sides can't agree on anything stronger than a qualifying offer before October.