Raymond Felton did not dress it up, soften it, or hide behind front-office language. In his eyes, the Detroit Pistons are overthinking the obvious with Jalen Duren.
Reacting to the idea that Detroit could be offering Duren closer to $25 million per year instead of something in the $35 million to $40 million range, Felton called the gap ridiculous. His argument was simple: Duren just made the All-Star Game, earned an All-NBA selection, became one of the most productive young centers in the league, and now the Pistons are supposed to lowball him and still expect him to walk back into the building as the same upbeat, buy-in, locker-room guy?
That is the heart of the matter. This is not just a contract negotiation. It is a relationship test.
“He deserves that right now. I said 35 to 40, but I’m okay with him getting 35 but you dropping him all the way to 25, bro? Come on Trajan Langdon, come on, bro. Trajan Langdon trippin’. And then you expect him to sign that and comeback and be this uplifting good locker room guy, like come on, bro. I just made the All-Star game and All-NBA selection and you going to throw 25 million at me a year.”
Raymond Felton says for Detroit to not at least give Jalen Duren $35 million a year is insane:
“He deserves that right now. I said 35 to 40, but I’m okay with him getting 35 but you dropping him all the way to 25, bro? Come on Trajan Langdon, come on, bro. Trajan Langdon… pic.twitter.com/rvURalRoaW
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) July 6, 2026
Duren, still only 22, is no longer just a promising young big with upside. He is coming off a breakout season in which he averaged 19.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.0 assists while shooting 65% from the field. He made his first All-Star team, landed on the All-NBA Third Team, and helped turn Detroit from a rebuilding punchline into a serious Eastern Conference team. Such leap changes a player’s value quickly. Sometimes uncomfortably quickly.
And that is where Felton’s frustration makes sense. Once a player has that kind of season, the conversation no longer starts at “prove it.” Duren already proved a lot. The Pistons can still negotiate. They can still protect themselves. They can still worry about roster flexibility, playoff matchup concerns and the modern price of paying a non-shooting center. But if the number really starts in the mid-20s, Felton’s point is that Detroit risks sending the wrong message to one of the players who helped change the direction of the franchise.
The financial context makes this even more dramatic. Because Duren made All-NBA before signing his next deal, he is eligible for a massive five-year extension worth up to $287.1 million. That does not mean Detroit has to hand him every dollar. In fact, reports have indicated Duren’s camp is seeking around $40 million per year, well below the full maximum. So Felton’s $35 million argument is not some wild, podcast-only fantasy. It is actually closer to a compromise than a top-of-the-market demand.
Detroit’s hesitation is understandable on paper. Paying any center huge money in today’s NBA comes with questions. Can he defend in space deep into the playoffs? Can he stay on the floor in every matchup? Can he punish switches? Can the spacing survive? Duren’s regular season was excellent, but his postseason production dipped, and that matters when a franchise is deciding whether to lock in a long-term salary structure around Cade Cunningham, Duren, Ausar Thompson and the rest of its young core.
But there is also a danger in being too clever. The Pistons finally have momentum. They finally have an identity. Cade is the engine, but Duren is the vertical threat, the bruising finisher, the glass cleaner and the kind of physical presence Detroit fans have always loved. He gives the Pistons force. He gives them attitude. He gives them a nightly advantage around the rim.
Felton is basically warning Detroit not to turn a good problem into a bad one. If a young All-Star and All-NBA big is willing to talk in the $35 million to $40 million range instead of demanding every cent of the supermax, that should at least be treated seriously. Lowballing him might save money on a spreadsheet, but it can cost something else: trust.
That is what makes this negotiation so important. The Pistons are not just deciding what Jalen Duren is worth. They are deciding how they treat one of the first players who helped make them relevant again.
