At the start of free agency on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Lakers’ focus was on young restricted free agent big men as they reportedly met with both Walker Kessler in person and Jalen Duren on a call.
It remains to be seen if they can get either to leave their current teams, but according to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the Lakers had a productive first meeting with Duren and will speak with him again on Wednesday:
Detroit Pistons restricted free agent center Jalen Duren had a productive meeting with the Lakers on Tuesday and is scheduled to meet with them again on Wednesday morning, league sources told The Athletic.
Duren was told by the Lakers in the meeting that they view him as a maximum-salary level player, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe ongoing deliberations. The 22-year-old received a similar message of strong interest from the Sacramento Kings, who also met with Duren on Tuesday and indicated that they will continue to explore sign-and-trade scenarios to land him.
The Lakers telling Duren they believe he is a max-level player is notable as that is the type of offer sheet it would take to have a chance at landing him. The Detroit Pistons have been adamant that they will match any offer sheet Duren signs, but they have yet to offer him a max contract themselves.
With that being the case, Duren has to find a max offer sheet to force Detroit’s hand in either matching it and keeping him, letting him walk for nothing, or work out a sign-and-trade to get some sort of asset back.
Duren is coming off a career year in which he was named All-NBA Third Team and helped lead the Pistons to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. While his play fell off a cliff in the postseason, he is just 22 years of age so if the Lakers do indeed give him a max offer sheet then that would mean they are confident he will continue to ascend as a premiere center in the NBA while playing alongside Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Lakers prefer Walker Kessler over Jalen Duren?
According to recent reports, the Lakers’ top center target is actually Kessler, and not Duren.
Perhaps things have changed after Tuesday’s meetings, or the Lakers are keeping their options open, but it makes sense for Duren’s camp to get it out there that a max offer sheet could be coming to potentially get the Pistons or another team to increase their own offers.
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