Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon said Tuesday he expects to negotiate long-term contracts with center Jalen Duren and forward Ausar Thompson during the upcoming offseason.
Duren will enter restricted free agency, giving the Pistons the right to match any outside offer. The club can propose a five-year maximum contract, though Langdon indicated a smaller figure is more likely. Thompson becomes eligible for a rookie-scale extension for the first time.
“J.D. had a fantastic season—All-Star, nearly 20 and 10 every night,” Langdon told reporters, crediting the 20-year-old’s offseason work for his leap. Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes as Detroit earned the East’s No. 1 seed. His production dipped to 10.2 points and 8.5 rebounds over 30.1 minutes in 14 playoff games, and he was briefly replaced in second halves by Paul Reed.
Langdon acknowledged that extending both starters will tighten Detroit’s salary flexibility. “J.D. and A.T. will be expensive, and once that happens the optionality decreases,” he said. Even so, he plans to explore avenues to upgrade an offense that still leans heavily on franchise guard Cade Cunningham.
The front office stood pat at February’s trade deadline and is taking a broad look at the roster following Sunday’s Game 7 loss to Cleveland in the conference semifinals. “One game, win or lose, can’t define how you move forward,” Langdon noted. “We’ll take a holistic view. We’re still super young.”
Detroit continues to seek a reliable secondary scorer and playmaker. Langdon would not commit to pursuing a major trade but said incremental adjustments are expected each year. “The goal is to be a championship contender,” he said. “We don’t want to skip steps.”
Veteran forward Tobias Harris, who turns 34 next season, remains a candidate to return if he accepts a significant reduction from the $26.6 million he earned this year. “Tobias has been great. We’d love to keep him in a Pistons uniform,” Langdon said.
Source: Hoops Rumors
