Jalen Duren finally makes his decision

Fields, representing Duren, seemed to use every bit of negotiating leverage he could, waiting until 90 minutes before the deadline to accept a $9.6 million qualifying offer or accept the $200 million deal on the table. While there had been reports that the two sides were far apart, all indications are the Pistons' first serious offer in the offseason landed between $185-$190 million. So the months of drama, meeting with teams in free agency, leaking interest from other NBA teams, threatening to sign the qualifying offer, and trying to engineer sign-and-trades netted Duren the $200 million deal he was seeking.

While Duren was technically eligbile for a $287 million max contract, there was never any indication that Detroit was interested in that number. Detroit made little headway in an extension last offseason, and there was thoughts it might have soured the relationship between player and organization permanently. It didn't help that media leaks were obviously coming from Duren's camp, and Detroit earned plenty of bad press by reportedly trying to include a weight clause in Duren's contract. That provision was allegedly removed, and is not part of the $200 million deal.

If Duren had accepted the qualifying offer and then gotten a max deal in free agency next summer, he would have earned less than the $200 million the Pistons were offering. In the end, the Detroit deal always made the most sense, and that is the deal Duren decided to sign.