The Los Angeles Lakers would take a leap toward contender status if they could acquire an impact center this summer of Jalen Duren's quality. Duren himself is a restricted free agent, so he's not completely off-limits. However, it looks like the Detroit Pistons are fully intent on retaining Duren, with Pistons president of basketball operations Trajan Langdon communicating this on Tuesday during his end-of-season interview.
Lakers facing steep price and LeBron James problem when it comes to pursuit of Jalen Duren
Buzz around the league -- from The Athletic's Sam Vecenie and others -- indicates that it would take something in the realm of a $35-$40 million per year contract offer to pry Duren away from Detroit this offseason.
That's only a number that the Lakers could afford to pay if they moved on from LeBron James this offseason.
Does Lakers general manager/president of basketball ops Rob Pelinka have the guts to ditch LeBron this summer and get the Luka Doncic era started without any further delay? Fans are already terrified of another gap year that's becoming increasingly likely, as both LeBron and Austin Reaves figure strongly to be back on the Lakers' cap sheet by July, with not much money leftover to acquire depth.
It's too costly of a business decision to let James walk, which is why Pelinka might receive pressure from ownership upstairs to retain LeBron, even if Pelinka has a desire to do otherwise. Letting Reaves walk or signing and trading AR is still an option, but seeing as nothing acknowledging that option has ever emerged out the Lakers' camp, it doesn't appear to be a possibility in Pelinka's eyes.
Lakers' hands are tied, preventing them from pursuing Jalen Duren
A core of Luka, LeBron, and Duren would be more well-rounded than the Luka, LeBron, Reaves trio that we saw peak in March this past offseason (and by seeing this peak, we know that it's awesome but still not good enough to win a title). Even a Luka, Reaves, Duren trio would be preferable to the existing situation in LA. The Lakers need a quality center! Badly!
But alas, sacrificing LeBron would be nothing short of sacrilege in LA, and so it's absolutely not going to happen. Duren will more than likely re-sign with the Pistons and team back up with Cade Cunningham for perennial runs at the East crown for years to come. The Lakers will watch Deandre Ayton pick up his player option and wonder once again why they ever acquired him.
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