I’ve accepted the situation

Do we actually have reliable information that (a) JD has taken personal offense with respect to what the Pistons have offered him and/or (b) the Pistons-JD relationship has actually been damaged?

So Trajan did in fact over play his cards then?

How did you get that from this video

You literally just said whatever happens here “will be bad” lmao. Every scenario you listed out had some sort of completely terrible outcome

There’s nothing Trajan could’ve done to avoid this RFA process besides pay him exactly what he wants, which would’ve been terrible too I’m acknowledging that no matter which route ends up being taken, because Duren thinks of himself much higher than anyone else does in &$$ it’s possible you’re just gonna have some kind of problem with each route The idea that those have that “oh if just sign and trades him earlier, there was a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow!!” Even tho we keep getting more and more intel that, again, was not the case is just dumb. It’s a fun fake reality those can hold onto because it’s something that can be said without needing to provide evidence that it actually has any merit

I just think it's a tough sell to admit basically doing anything at this point is bad, but also try to say none of it is the GM's fault -- This is literally his job. Duren is his 2nd or 3rd biggest asset. If paying him is dumb and an overpay and no one else will. Then they should have just let him take the QO and been more aggressive using the money elsewhere (maybe go after Brown or Lebron?) Not sure but you seem to be playing it both ways saying there's no good outcomes but also nothing the GM could have done. He let it get to this point 🤷‍♂️

When he gets boo'd opening night its going to make things worse. Hes going to really mentally check out. In his eyes FO don't respect him, and now fan base hates him.

I tend to agree with this take. however there's a chance that signs, and all this off season drama he just comes out and kind of squashes it says that it was way overblown and he's happy to be here and we just move on. and that can literally be true. that's very much in the cards

Or he gets paid and it’s back to normal and all this noise ends up being noise and if it doesn’t work out you have a 22 year old on a long term deal you can trade or built around

My boy Ku going through the 5 stages of grief 😭

he could also come back and be completely fine

I negotiate contracts. One negotiating strategy is to slow play things and make the other side sweat a bit (especially if there is a *perceived* or actual deadline to meet)—sometimes causing the other side to unilaterally offer better terms to get you to sign the deal in time.

This is all on Trajan, there’s no saying otherwise.

He's a consistent crybaby for a commentator

:(

The best case scenario is getting him out of here and use whatever funds your save to actually find a legitimate 2nd option. Overpaying Duren ($38M AAV is an overpay) hurts the franchise and prevents them from actually improving the roster enough to really compete for a title

Only real upside is if he legit comes back a better player at this point lmao, maybe he asking for so much cuz he know he out in crazy work this offseason & should be a better player? Lmao i doubt it but man we’ll see, 😂🤦🏾‍♂️

Trading him is a huge win

@KuKhahil I think I would rather have Sabonis on a one year rental plus draft compensation than have Duren on a qualifying offer because at least the locker room will be better in theory.

The only good outcome is not allowing him to step in Detroit again, sign n trade him got nothing at this point. Let’s get Zach Lavine in an expiring contract and call it a day.

The good outcome is the the longterm plan that can be filled with multiple options/paths if you trade Duren

I promise you, training JD would not be the wrong thing. Especially if the Kings are willing to trade the proper players

Probably right. But in the old days, guys held out all the time. There was bickering, animosity, hard feelings and this is in the day when guys actually missed games. But after the signing, it was over, guy comes back, plays hard, all is forgotten. Let's use that model here.

I rather trade him at this point and live with that decision

the second half of the video is kinda why ive been leaning towards wanting to trade him as of recently, even if something DOES get done how is that going to impact the locker room / chemistry internally? this teams trying to build a winning culture and this is kind of anti that.

I accepted it in July

He gets a sign and trade Takes the qualifying offer Takes the qualifying offer and gets traded in February at the deadline for anything Signs for like a 3 year bridge deal and is okay with the pistons still Signs a 5 year deal and gets traded at the deadline