The Detroit Pistons are days away from a decision from Jalen Duren, and they are running out of options.
Detroit can either give in and raise their offer from a reported $200 million over five years, sign-and-trade Duren or let him take the qualifying offer and risk losing him for nothing.
One suggested emergency sign-and-trade option has been to target Myles Turner of the Bucks, a player who Milwaukee made available this offseason without any takers.
The money situation is challenging, even in a straight up trade, as the Pistons can’t use all of Duren’s starting salary next season to match in the deal.
I’ll let the suits work that part out, which leaves the question of whether flipping Duren for Turner is actually a good idea.
On paper, and at this point in their respective careers, Turner is arguably the better fit as a stretch five who is a better rim protector.
But Duren is significantly younger and has gotten better every season. Even though Turner may be the better fit, the numbers say Duren is the better player right now and will be even more so in the future.
A straight up trade isn’t fair to the Pistons, so for them to do this deal, the Bucks would have to sweeten the pot.
What can the Pistons squeeze out of the Bucks in a Jalen Duren trade?
I’ve seen fans dreaming about getting both Tyler Herro along with Turner, but adding his salary makes it even more challenging financially without other teams involved, so I am going to put a pin in that one.
The Pistons could ask for one of their young players like Ryan Rollins, AJ Green or Jaime Jaquez Jr. to help balance the trade in their favor and get back another player who could help them right away.
The Bucks also have plenty of extra draft picks after the Giannis trade, so the Pistons could ask for one or two of those instead. The Pistons could use those picks to try and make another trade now or sit on them until the deadline and pursue a player like Trey Murphy III.
A straight up deal for Turner would not go over well with the fanbase, and even though it might work in the short term, it would be difficult to argue that the Pistons maximized one of their top assets, which is their 22-year-old All-NBA center.
The Pistons have scoffed at the notion of a sign-and-trade so far, but they are running out of time, and it’s an option they will have to explore if they can’t find a number Duren will agree to.
If Milwaukee is a possibility, it will all come down to what they’d be willing to chip in along with Myles Turner to land Jalen Duren.
