SerpApi.Org
The Detroit Pistons and Jalen Duren are still in a standoff that has no end in sight, as the team won't change an offer that Duren has made it clear he doesn't want to accept.
There's still a high likelihood that this deal gets done at some point, but the longer it lingers, the bigger the chance this drama leaks into the regular season.
The Pistons seem content to make Duren blink first, as he doesn't have any other options and they have all of the leverage.
Restricted free agency, especially for All-NBA players, used to be a formality, as teams would fast track these deals and just hand over the max without thinking about it.
But things have changed in the Apron Era as we are seeing this summer, and the Pistons are setting a tone in free agency that will be the norm across the league.
Teams are going to play hardball with their own free agents
The aprons act like hard caps that have serious ramifications if you breach them, including the loss of the mid-level exception, inability to aggregate salaries in trades and eventually even lost draft picks.
After watching the Boston Celtics have to trade their second-best player because they couldn't afford two supermax deals, teams are taking note and trying to avoid the same fate.
It's nearly impossible to have three max players on a team and still have a deep roster, which is why the Pistons aren't offering a max deal to Duren, a player who is pretty clearly not a max guy, sorry JD.
According to Omari Sankofa II, the Pistons haven't even offered the original max Duren was eligible for, which was 25 percent of the salary cap, so they are coming in far below what he wants.
This will be the way teams do business from now on, as they can just tell the player to go out and find his money elsewhere if they aren't happy with the offer. They are going to find far fewer teams willing to overpay in free agency, as the punishment is too harsh now and costs the franchise more than just money.
Guys like Duren are going to have to accept less in restricted free agency, which is probably an effect the player's union wasn't anticipating when they signed this ridiculous CBA that simultaneously makes it harder for teams to keep their own guys and more difficult for RFA's to get their money.
Something will eventually have to give here, but it won't be the Pistons, as they have no reason to cave in, but the longer this lasts, the greater the chance it has some negative effects on the team. That said, the negative effects of having a bad max contract are far worse, so the Pistons are smart to be patient here.
Today's best reads
- Jalen Duren could be the first Pistons' sacrifice of the apron era
- Jalen Duren drama could leak into next season
- Jalen Duren is inching closer to harsh reality with the Pistons
- Growing Pistons concern should fade after latest Jalen Duren intel
- Jalen Duren saga has created Jonathan Kuminga disaster for the Pistons
This article was originally published on pistonpowered.com as Pistons setting the tone for future free agents in the apron era.
