The Oklahoma City Thunder were one of two teams that walked away from the 2022 draft with a pair of lottery picks, selecting Chet Holmgren at No. 2 and Jalen Williams at No. 13 (as part of the Paul George trade with the Clippers). Detroit was the other, as it took Jaden Ivey at No. 5 and landed Jalen Duren at No. 13 in a trade. The Pistons have already traded the former, and the latter could be on his way out soon.
Duren and Detroit have been stuck in a restricted free agency stalemate, and, as Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported on Thursday, the center is considering accepting his $9.6 million qualifying offer as a result (subscription required).
One source briefed on the process says Duren is increasingly prepared to play out the coming season on his $9.6 million qualifying offer — with the intent to become an unrestricted free agent next summer — if no deal with Detroit materializes by the end of September.
If Duren takes that sizable risk, believing he'll get more than the $35 million annual value the Pistons have already offered him, as ESPN's Tim MacMahon reported, then he could walk from Detroit next summer, leaving the team with nothing in return.
If you needed the reminder, Holmgren and Williams helped the Thunder win their first title in franchise history in 2025.
Pistons could have nothing to show for their 2022 draft
As a Thunder fan, you've long known how good Presti is at his job, but it doesn't hurt to look around the league to compare.
Like Oklahoma City and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Detroit has a star guard in Cade Cunningham, who was drafted the year before Ivey and Duren. It felt like the Pistons were building something special, and they do have regular-season success to show for it, finishing at the top of the East in 2025-26, but their offseason hasn't inspired much confidence.
They don't have a reason to pay Duren the kind of money that he's looking for, which is reportedly more than $40 million, but the alternative, which is losing him next summer, isn't ideal, either.
Oklahoma City doesn't have to face a saga with Holmgren and Williams, since both have already signed extensions that will kick in at the start of 2026-27. The Thunder's roster is now a lot more expensive as a result, but there's a price you have to pay for winning. It's justified.
Detroit still hasn't solidified itself as a true contender. Whiffing on the Ivey pick didn't help, and though Duren was a steal, that won't matter if he bets on himself by putting his future in his own hands, leaving the Pistons behind.
Some may say that the Thunder just got lucky with how their end of the 2022 draft played out, but it takes more than luck to do what Presti has accomplished.
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