The reality of the Los Angeles Lakers' pursuit of Jalen Duren this offseason is that Duren is simply too expensive for LA. Unless the Lakers unexpectedly moved on from LeBron James or Austin Reaves this summer, they wouldn't have the cap space needed to sign Duren away from the Pistons (he is a restricted free agent).
The Athletic's Sam Vecenie talked about this on Wednesday during his Game Theory podcast.
Despite Duren being "terrible" in the playoffs this year (Vecenie's choice of words), Vecenie wondered aloud whether the Lakers should go after Duren, which, according to Vecenie, would require a $35-$40 million per year investment to see if the Pistons would match the offer.
Is a trio of Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and Jalen Duren a contending core?
Vecenie reminded viewers that snagging Duren wouldn't be possible for LA unless they moved on from LeBron, which begged the question of whether or not a Luka/AR/Duren Big 3 would be a good enough core to compete in the Wild West in 2026-27.
Duren, 22, was an All-Star this past season for the Pistons. He was Detroit's second-best player alongside Cade Cunningham as the Pistons grabbed the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. They nearly advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals but bowed out to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games, with Duren getting outplayed by Cavs center Jarrett Allen during some crucial stretches.
Duren is still quite young, which leads one to believe that he hasn't reached his ceiling as an NBA center, even with an All-Star appearance already under his belt. That makes him sound appealing to a Lakers team looking to build a multi-year contender around the 27-year-old megastar Doncic. But money remains the main issue for LA during an offseason full of complicated cap barriers.
Is Jalen Duren really worth upwards of $40 million per year?
To give you an idea of what $35-$40 million equates to in the NBA, here’s a list of guys who landed in that range this past season (above $35M and below $40M):
OG Anunoby, Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, Darius Garland, James Harden, Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Michael Porter Jr., Brandon Ingram, Tyrese Maxey, LaMelo Ball, De’Aaron Fox, Bam Adebayo, Desmond Bane, and Kyrie Irving.
Duren is as valuable as at least some of the guys on that list, especially for a team like the Lakers that desperately needs an upgrade at center.
But is he valuable enough for the Lakers to lose LeBron over? That's an entirely different question, and one that any business mind would respond to with a gigantic "no".
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