Jalen Duren Meets Starter Criteria, Raising Qualifying Offer for 2026
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DETROIT — Pistons center Jalen Duren reached the NBA’s starter criteria on Monday, a milestone that lifts the value of his 2026 qualifying offer by approximately $649,000.
The 21-year-old made his fourth consecutive start to open the 2025-26 season on October 27, giving him an average of 41 starts over the past two campaigns. That satisfies league rules that bump a player’s qualifying offer when he starts at least 41 games in two separate seasons or logs 2,000 minutes in either year.
As a result, Detroit’s qualifying offer to keep Duren as a restricted free agent in the summer of 2026 jumps from $8,966,188 to $9,615,393. The Pistons must extend that offer after the 2025-26 season to retain matching rights, a step widely expected after the sides failed to agree on a rookie-scale extension before opening night.
Duren, the 13th overall pick in the 2022 draft, has averaged a double-double in each of the past two seasons. Through the first three games of 2025-26, he is posting 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 20.0 minutes per contest.
Qualifying offers typically serve as placeholders while teams and players negotiate longer contracts. This offseason, however, Cam Thomas and Quentin Grimes accepted their one-year QOs, granting them the right to veto trades and setting up unrestricted free agency next summer.
Source: Hoops Rumors
