[Omari Sankofa II] JB denied there’s been bitterness between the team and Duren. “I don’t know where that came from. It’s a negotiation. It’s business.”

[u/Jenkinsd08]

https://bsky.app/profile/omarisankofa.bsky.social/post/3mww3hrmpf22c

JB on Duren: “We’re obviously excited to have him back. Like I said yesterday, our expectation was that he was always going to be back.”

JB denied there’s been bitterness between the team and Duren. “I don’t know where that came from. It’s a negotiation. It’s business.”

[u/AutoModerator]

Join the Official r/DetroitPistons Discord: https://discord.com/invite/csEZAv9KCd

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/HectorReinTharja]

There is no bitterness in De Troi Te

[u/highvyleague → u/HectorReinTharja]

We all fam

[u/sxuthsi → u/highvyleague]

In the clurb

[u/themysticalninja → u/HectorReinTharja]

D2roit 4 life

[u/ResolutionOwn4933 → u/themysticalninja]

What up doe

[u/birdmoney → u/HectorReinTharja]

De2roit

[u/russvanderhoof → u/birdmoney]

https://giphy.com/gifs/3ohc0QfKGoG167v6Ja

[u/Infinite_Break_7107 → u/HectorReinTharja]

Detrois

[u/DrunkAtDaBarComments → u/HectorReinTharja]

Detroit in French is pronounced (Dey-Twa)

[u/motorcitydevil → u/DrunkAtDaBarComments]

dey-twat

[u/DrunkAtDaBarComments → u/motorcitydevil]

The British are coming the British are coming.

[u/drewlius24]

Don’t y’all watch Ted Lasso? Roy Kent talking about his agent: “He’s a dick so I don’t have to be.”

[u/Jenkinsd08 → u/drewlius24]

I loved that line because Roy is very unapologetically a dick anyway

[u/drewlius24 → u/Jenkinsd08]

True! 🤣🤣🤣

[u/Expert_Specialist_92]

Like his teammates give a shit about him trying to get paid. That is what they are all trying to do. Fans are so clueless about these things and take business way too personal.

[u/Creepy-Performer-106 → u/Expert_Specialist_92]

BRO….THANK YOU FOR THIS!!!! FACTS

[u/rusty512 → u/Expert_Specialist_92]

Exactly, most fans are completely delusional and forget its a job for these guys

[u/Minimum_Comfort_1850 → u/Expert_Specialist_92]

Most fans are aware of this. Give us credit

[u/Anxious-Passenger-54 → u/Minimum_Comfort_1850]

Based on fan reactions to these negotiations, I would say most fans do not.

[u/IssaBoyDamon1111 → u/Anxious-Passenger-54]

I would wholeheartedly agree

[u/Lyaser → u/Anxious-Passenger-54]

Of all the reactions people are having, none of them, other than the one off troll, thinks that the issue is that this has now messed up locker room chemistry.

The only critiques people are lobbing at this signing are purely financial or Duren’s individual ability/development.

[u/adahl36 → u/Expert_Specialist_92]

Agreed, tbh i think if the front office starts with something closer to where it eneded up this goes smoother overall.

[u/Jokerit208 → u/Expert_Specialist_92]

He ran his mouth about his teammates in the process. They absolutely do care about that, and it's fucked that you don't.

[u/big_hand_dan → u/Jokerit208]

What exactly did Duren say about his teammates?

[u/NCEMercy]

I believe him because the amount of trade and contract clickbait that never came to fruition was irritating.

[u/AppealEnvironmental6]

It seems fans forget the nba is a business first

[u/NorthBook1383 → u/AppealEnvironmental6]

Strictly business!

[u/Liquidmetalslimeno9 → u/NorthBook1383]

Read this in EPMD's voices lol

[u/NorthBook1383 → u/Liquidmetalslimeno9]

You know the vibes!!!! 🥇

[u/SurpriseDonovanMcnab → u/AppealEnvironmental6]

And if Duren underperforms and gets booed I'm sure he'll forget it's just business.

[u/AppealEnvironmental6 → u/SurpriseDonovanMcnab]

Good thing the quote was asking about the team dynamic with duren and not the fans dynamic with him

[u/IssaBoyDamon1111 → u/AppealEnvironmental6]

Yeah good thing the fans dynamic means nothing in relation to the teams actual succes this season. True colors came out quick as a mf

[u/AppealEnvironmental6 → u/IssaBoyDamon1111]

Our franchise player explicitly said he was in durens corner this whole process 😂 they won’t gaf if fans boo him for getting his money it’s not like he’s a criminal or did something wrong

It’s like LeBron said, “at the end of the day they (us fans) have to wake up tomorrow and live the same life they had yesterday”

[u/Slippery-Pete76]

If there were any bitterness it would be with the front office. No reason for Duren and the players/coaches to have any hard feelings towards each other.

[u/435rouhnj234_209u → u/Slippery-Pete76]

This sub is so weird about this.

Like I understand that we want players to take as little cap space as possible for the good of the team. But you need to accept that the vast majority of them will by default just do the opposite and try to get paid as much as humanly possible. And any other employee of the team will be totally cool with that.

[u/questionstolife → u/435rouhnj234_209u]

For now players can be cool with it but I don't think its as simple as 0 potential bad feelings no matter what until the end of time (not implying you are saying that). If players were toxicly positive about whos getting paid what all the time, locker room drama would happen a lot less or not at all.

There are generally limits and stipulations to what teammates tolerate before they could start to get crabby or toxic. Sure, you can always blame the FO for offering that contract in the first place. But after a bad loss when tensions peak, the FO isn't the one being blamed right away. Those feelings don't come up out of nowhere. You can't tell me the 2015 NYK locker room was all roses after Carmelo extended there for example.

On the flip side, we also see positive outcomes for team chemistry when players take team friendly deals (e.g 2025 NYK). It's not as though players are blind to roster construction and the "LeGM" side of the game.

[u/435rouhnj234_209u → u/questionstolife]

First of all, everyone on the 2025-26 Knicks are on the best possible contract they could've signed at the time of their respective extensions. Some of the players took their deals a year early when the team only had Early Bird Rights as opposed to Full Bird Rights - which made the number worse than what they could've signed next season. They did that for guaranteed money even if their legs were to break the next day, not because they were bosom buddies.

Y'all also heavily overestimate how many players are lose sleep over not winning a title. They all wanna win but very few want to do it at the expense of their own paycheck - all-stars who took less money they qualified for at the time of signing the deal while near their prime in the last 15 years - Wembanyama, LeBron, Wade, Bosh, Dirk, Duncan, maybe Parker and Ginobli depending on whether you consider extending for 120% of your old contract that's still only 70% of the max a pay cut. Not only is that a very small list, it's literally just the Spurs and the Heat with Dirk thrown in. And every franchise where players regularly take paycuts always has the best player on the team go first. That hasn't even happened with Cade, while everyone's bitching about Duren like he owes it to the team to play for less money than he could get from other teams.

[u/Whatduffhuck]

First duren dunk and everyone on this sub will be back on Durens corner.

[u/435rouhnj234_209u]

Players don't care and most likely was rooting for him to get the biggest bag possible (Cade basically says that outright). Reminder that the NBPA got Ben Simmons almost his entire salary during the time he sat out for the Sixers, and got Kawhi out of the Clippers scandal almost unscathed.

The coaching staff may care a little, but not too much since turnover is so high, they'll likely never have to deal with the challenges of building a team around 2 horrific and 1 below average shooter as your 3 best players.

The only ones who may care significantly is the front office who's gotta deal with cap management, but they're basically the owner's lapdogs to the former two parties; who will probably like him more because the FO hates him.

[u/gachzonyea]

I believe there’s no bitterness with the team and players. There definetely is with fans though

[u/SpeedsterVolt]

Duren was probably chilling in Cancun while his agent was doing all the dirty work

[u/Muelly487]

This is how I’ve looked at it from the beginning. It was a negotiation. It’s now over. Back to the regular scheduled program.

[u/IssaBoyDamon1111]

JD was seriously dominant last season.

[u/HateFilledDonut]

i'm sorry what is the context to this? I haven't heard anything about duren and the team beefing

[u/MakeItTrizzle]

Fans are ball pissy but no one on the nteam is going to care at ALL. 

[u/rusty512]

Why would there even be any bitterness? The guys are all professionals, the more worrying thing is whether Duren is actually ready to go or not. I suspect he hasn't had much of an offseason so will need quite a while to ramp up.

[u/Jokerit208]

If bitterness was reported, it exists and JB is lying. This is a business until it's not. Duren ran his mouth about his teammates last week, and that matters. He has bridges to mend and a contract to earn that he lacks the potential to deserve. He has his work cut out for him.

[u/Narbooty → u/Jokerit208]

I haven't seen a single comment from him during the process about his teammates or anything at all

[u/United_Broccoli_3694]

Fuck this guy. Yeah gaslight your fans bc we are so dumb

[u/highvyleague → u/United_Broccoli_3694]

Well I know at least 1 that’s dumb

[u/rambouhh → u/United_Broccoli_3694]

I mean do you really think Cade and Ausar are going to be bitter over it? I honestly don’t think so. 

[u/tiorteD_snotsiP → u/United_Broccoli_3694]

What a ridiculous statement lmao. You’ve clearly never negotiated anything in your entire life.

[u/Nice_Muffin8689 → u/tiorteD_snotsiP]

Yeah ausar should have bent us over too. Why take less than Duren? Ausar Cade and Duren should just get all our money. Mfer dude atleast Cade and Ausar can do something in the playoffs.