Jalen Duren wouldn't be the first player to call the Pistons' bluff

Jalen Duren and the Detroit Pistons remain in a stalemate over his proposed contract extension. The All-NBA center has threatened to take his qualifying offer and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

This might seem like an empty threat, had it not happened to the Pistons before.

Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores has let young talent go before

Duren would be assuming a big risk by taking the $9.6M qualifying offer instead of taking the Pistons' offer, rumored to be around $200M for five years. He's reportedly felt disrespected by the team, which refused to negotiate last summer beyond a "take it or leave it" extension offer worth $20M per season. That's not unusual for the team's unconventional approach under owner Tom Gores.

After a season where the Pistons won 60 games and Duren made the All-NBA team, the club continues to play hardball. They've only increased their offer recently, with reports that the team wants Duren to agree to contract clauses involving his weight. Previous Pistons lottery picks have called the team's bluff.

In 2014, 24-year-old Greg Monroe accepted the Pistons' qualifying offer after a season where he played all 82 games and averaged 15.9 points and 10.2 rebounds. The team lost Monroe for nothing when he signed with the Milwaukee Bucks the next summer.

Three years later, the team let another lottery pick walk when they failed to reach an agreement with the No. 8 pick from the 2013 draft, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. With KCP threatening to take the qualifying offer, the Pistons instead traded for Avery Bradley and renounced their rights to Caldwell-Pope, who signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Detroit wouldn't win a playoff game in the next eight years while Caldwell-Pope won NBA titles in 2020 and 2023.

Detroit Pistons' hardball style may come from owner

The Pistons are on their fourth head of basketball operations since Gores bought the team in 2011, so the common factor in these moves seems to be Gores. Detroit has consistently made short-sighted personnel moves under Gores, costing them money and talent.

In 2013, the team signed Josh Smith to a four-year, $54M contract, then waived him early in the second year of the deal. The Pistons stretched the deal, meaning Smith cost them $5.4M annually against the salary cap for five seasons since they released him.

Three years ago, Gores gave Monty Williams a six-year, $78M contract to coach the team, and fired him after one year. The Pistons will be paying Williams $13M per year to stay home through the next three seasons.

Now they're risking losing a 22-year-old All-NBA center for nothing next summer, should Duren actually take the Q.O. It's rare that an NBA player will turn down long-term stability to bet on himself, but it's not as rare if that player is on the Pistons.

There's still time for both sides to compromise, and Duren taking a one-year deal would be a huge risk. Still, the Pistons have been reckless with young talent in the past and haven't had much success in the process. Don't be surprised if Duren becomes another casualty of their owner's impulsive style.