We are a month away from training camp and less than two months away from the start of the 2026-27 NBA regular season. While teams have been busy building their rosters for next season, players have been doing their offseason training program. For a young team with plenty of players in need of development like the Detroit Pistons, the summers are extremely important to come together, work on your game, and build team chemistry.
Cade Cunningham seems to be very well aware of this. As the leader and superstar of this team, Cunningham is reportedly leading a players-run minicamp in San Diego this week, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.
This comes on the heels of Luka Doncic hosting his Lakers teammates in Slovenia last week. It's an excellent way of coming together and building camaraderie before a long, grueling NBA season.
For Pistons fans, it's cool to see the face of their franchise taking responsibility and leading the charge.
However, Pistons fans will be singularly focused on whether Jalen Duren will be there.
Will Jalen Duren be with his teammates in Cade Cunningham's minicamp?
Technically, Duren is not a member of the Detroit Pistons. But this is not an official team activity. Since it's a players-run camp, Duren can certainly be there. Whether he will be will tell us everything we need to know about the state of negotiations between the Pistons and Duren.
The latest reporting has suggested that the tensions between Detroit and Duren are growing. The talks have been described as "nasty" and "noxious" by various reporters. While this is expected in free agency discussions, how this impacts the odds of Duren returning to Detroit is unclear.
Plenty of players and teams have buried the hatchet and got back to work after tense negotiations. The fact that this is a business is generally understood. But there is a point at which communication can break down, and things could reach a point of no return.
If Duren is in San Diego and works out with the team, one has to assume that we are not at that point. It would signal that the odds are still in Detroit's favor. If he isn't there, however, then speculation will get louder.
Duren may also want to show up and signal that he is still committed to the franchise and his teammates. This would help put the ball in the Pistons' court.
How much media presence and social media activity there will be in the minicamp remains to be seen. Plenty of fans in Detroit will be keeping a close eye to see whether their star restricted free agent is going to be there.
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