The Bucks have plenty of reason to be interested in Jalen Duren in theory, but the reality of his contract demands would make him a nightmare acquisition. Duren has reportedly turned down as much as $200 million over 5 years from the Pistons this offseason. The Bucks theoretically have the room to pay him in line with that offer, or even a little more, but it would be a huge risk if he never rises above the poor showing he had in last season's playoffs.
Duren comes with a ton of risks on his desired contract
Not only would the Bucks be handicapping themselves with a lot of money per season spent on Duren, but they would also likely have to commit to him for five full years. In his case, the length of the contract might be as equally off-putting as the dollar amount he's seeking. Duren has shown a lot of growth during his young career so far (at least in the regular season), but there are still huge questions about the ceiling of his play style in today's NBA.
Big bruising post-up centers like Duren are dying out for a reason, and Duren proved exactly why with his playoff perfomance. After averaging 19.5 points per game in the regular season and getting an All-NBA nod, he dipped to just 10.2 points per game in the playoffs. Duren lacked the backup skills to go along with his physical dominance, so he was shut down once playoff defenses took away his strengths through bigger defenders or double teams.
The Pistons have seen his rise up close and are still hesitant to give him the money he demands. That in itself should be a huge red flag for the Bucks or any other prospective suitors. If Duren doesn't develop more skills as a versatile scorer or passer out of double teams, his next contract will look like a massive overpay. Even on the Bucks, where he would have much more spacing, Duren wouldn't be able to live up to an All-NBA contract without major improvements.
The Bucks would handicap themselves with Duren
Beyond Duren's potential limitations as a player, the Bucks also can't afford to hand out a contract in the $200 million range because of their existing commitments. They signed Gary Trent Jr to a widely-criticized 4-year/$64 million deal this summer that hurts their flexibility going forward. And they still have Damian Lillard's dead money from last year's stretch-and-waive coming in over $20 million for 4 more years.
If the Bucks added Duren on top of those questionable moves, they would be locked into their roster for years to come. With Duren being so unproven still, there's no reason to pretty much give up all future flexibility just to sign him. For now, this is Detroit's mess and Milwaukee has no business helping out.
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