Like Nuggets restricted free agent wing Peyton Watson, Pistons RFA center Jalen Duren has been considering accepting his $9.5MM qualifying offer to hit unrestricted free agency next year, league sources tell Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link).

Shams Charania of ESPN touched on Duren’s situation on Monday’s NBA Today (YouTube link), stating that the 22-year-old big man and Detroit remain at an impasse in contract negotiations. Charania thinks Duren could remain unsigned “well into August” or even September, when the two sides may start to feel more urgency to get a deal done.

Here are a few more rumors from around the NBA:

• The Heat, Nuggets and Cavaliers are among the teams interested in signing free agent forward DeMar DeRozan, Charania reports. While DeRozan has been linked to Miami multiple times, this is the first time we’ve seen him connected to Denver or Cleveland. The six-time All-Star averaged 18.4 points, 4.1 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 77 appearances for Sacramento last season (31.2 minutes per game).
• The Heat‘s top priority remains figuring out a way to acquire Klay Thompson, Charania confirms. The Miami Herald has reported multiple times that the Heat have “strong interest” in the four-time champion, but he’s owed $17.5MM for the upcoming season and the Mavericks continue to focus on trade possibilities and haven’t discussed a buyout to this point, per Stein. “Several” other contending teams are monitoring Thompson as well, according to Charania, who says Miami is focused on adding shooting to its roster.
• Although Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints (Twitter link) recently suggested Mario Hezonja‘s addition would preclude the Cavaliers from pursuing a sign-and-trade for Jonathan Kuminga, Charania says that isn’t accurate. As Charania points out, Hezonja’s one-year deal is for the veteran’s minimum and won’t have much of an impact on Cleveland’s salary cap situation. The Lakers are the other primary suitor for Kuminga, Charania confirms.
• The Sixers are trying to trade former Auburn big man Johni Broome in order to complete their signing of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, according to Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link). If those efforts are unsuccessful, Philadelphia might waive the 24-year-old center/forward, who was selected 35th overall in the 2025 draft, and use the stretch provision to spread his minimum-salary cap hit over the next seven years, Smith adds.
• Charania is “fully expecting” James Harden to re-sign with the Cavaliers in the near future. There’s long been an expectation that the former NBA MVP would return to Cleveland this summer.