Detroit Pistons center Jalen Duren would be amazing on the Los Angeles Lakers. Catching lobs from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves ... holding down the glass better than Deandre Ayton ... and perhaps even continuing to perform at an All-Star and All-NBA level, like he did in 2025-26 for the Pistons.
There's a reason so many Lakers fans have been dreaming about Duren for months. He's a free agent (restricted, unfortunately), and Los Angeles has been looking forward to upgrading at center since midway through this past season, when Ayton's mediocrity was confirmed.
But there's a problem with pursuing Duren. He's too expensive for the Lakers. His playoff stinkers didn't decline his market value nearly enough, and the Lakers don't have the same type of cap space everyoned assumed they would back when it felt like LeBron James wasn't returning.
Jalen Duren has priced himself out of a Lakers pursuit
The latest intel on Duren's free agency forecast -- from ESPN's Tim Bontemps -- suggests that it'll take nothing less than a max contract to pry Duren away from the Pistons. According to Bontemps' information, Detroit will match any lesser offer for Duren, who is locked in as an ideal running mate beside First Team All-NBA selection Cade Cunningham.
"Duren could seek a suitor to give him a hefty offer sheet that the Pistons would all but certainly match," Bontemps wrote. "'If he wants to get a max, they'll tell him to go get one,' an East executive told ESPN. 'But he's Cade's guy, so they'll have to play it the right way."
Lakers could suprise everyone and ditch LeBron to go after Jalen Duren ... but that's not happening
So, yes, the Lakers' worst fears about Duren -- that he's only attainable via the max -- have been confirmed. But wait, there's still an outside chance that Lakers general manager goes rogue and decides he's ready to dive in to the Luka Doncic era NOW and abandon any plans for LeBron in 2026-27. Doing so would allow the Lakers to go for a Luka/Austin Reaves/Duren Big 3 to form a contender around.
Surely, the directive from Lakers ownership will have Pelinka re-signing LeBron for business reasons. Duren goes back to being completely unattainable in that vision. He returns to the Pistons, and the Lakers go back out into the free agent and trade markets to try and find their Ayton upgrade.
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