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The longer Jalen Duren continues his contract holdout, the more clear it becomes that money is the most important thing to him this offseason. An ideal position, from his perspective, could be a player like Zach Lavine, whose career earnings will exceed $300 million after this season. However, the Pistons can't afford for Duren to replicate Lavine, whose current contract is such an overpay that the Kings can't possibly find a trade partner for him.

The Detroit Pistons hoped to build a sustainable winner and eventual title contender around Cade Cunningham, Ausar Thompson and Jalen Duren, but so far, things have not gone to plan. With mere hours remaining for Duren to accept Pistons' $200 million contract or the qualifying offer, its not hyperbole to say that tomorrow could be a turning point for the Pistons franchise.

Detroit Pistons' training camp starts today, but Jalen Duren won't be there, as he is still not under contract and is forbidden from taking part in official team events and practices. Duren may not be under contract, but he's still connected to the Pistons via restricted free agency, which has become a much more contentious issue under the new CBA, as teams are no longer just rubber stamping max contracts and have taken to playing hardball more often with their own free agents.

The Detroit Pistons tip off training camp today, which means we are less than a month away from real basketball. The biggest questions for the Pistons revolve around Jalen Duren, but they also have several new players they are trying to integrate and several others trying to earn spots in the rotation.

The Pistons brought in John Collins this offseason to be a play finisher and thrive off Cade Cunningham's elite playmaking; fortunately he seems to understand the assignment perfectly. When asked about playing with Cade, Collins had the following to say: " I pride myself on trying to get a lot of easy baskets, I feel like Cade is a great playmaker." Collins brings excellent complementary skills to Detroit at the power forward position.

Detroit Pistons' training camp starts today and it will be far from a normal affair. Jalen Duren's holdout has put a dark cloud over camp, and he has until tomorrow to decide whether to take the qualifying offer, accept the $200 million the Pistons have offered or hold out even more. Duren's absence won't be the only irregularity in Pistons' training camp, as they also have several abnormal battles that will help define the rotation for the season. Jalen Duren vs. common sense vs.

Over the past few seasons, Cade Cunningham has grown into the undisputed face of the Pistons and he proved his worth as a leader when asked about Jalen Duren on media day. Despite Duren's own disconnect from Cunningham and the rest of the team, Cade was supportive of his teammate and even tried to take some heat off him. Duren's pursuit of the highest contract possible might be hurting the Pistons in the long run, but there's no benefit to Cade calling that out.

Jalen Duren has until Oct. 1 to accept his $9.6 million qualifying offer unless the Detroit Pistons agree to push the deadline back, and they've given no indication they do. If the center decides to take that route, thinking a team like the Kings will offer him a max next summer, history won't be in his favor. As ESPN reported Tuesday, none of the 43 players who have accepted their qualifying offer since 1999 have made an All-NBA or All-Star team. Duren would be the only one.

The Pistons are relying on Ausar Thompson to be more aggressive on offense this season and he’s already taking the right steps, based on his media day presser.

The Detroit Pistons have reportedly offered Jalen Duren $200 million over five seasons, which would make him one of the highest paid centers in the NBA and put the Pistons in a precarious position. It seems from Trajan Langdon's demeanor at media day that the Pistons have made their final offer to Duren, who can either now accept it or take the qualifying offer.