Duren Signs. Now Comes the Harder Part.

Jalen Duren agreed to a five-year, $200 million fully guaranteed extension with the Pistons on Friday, ending a standoff that stretched across the entire offseason and into training camp. The number is the same one Detroit put on the table September 22. Duren held out for weeks after that, and the qualifying offer — a one-year arrangement that would have carried real risk for both sides — stayed on the table long enough to make everyone uncomfortable.

The deal is done, and that matters. Duren is the centerpiece this roster was built around, and his 17.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game last season, shot at nearly 65 percent from the floor, earned him an All-Star nod and the Third Team All-NBA recognition that made him eligible for the max in the first place. You don't rebuild a frontcourt around John Collins and then let the anchor walk.

But the coverage around the signing was notable for what it said beyond the numbers. One outlet specifically flagged that there are scars from this negotiation that are going to need to heal. That's not nothing. Duren declined Detroit's offers repeatedly before finally accepting the same figure that was on the table ten days ago. The relationship got tested in a way Thompson's extension — agreed to quickly and cleanly in September — never did.

Detroit enters the season with its core intact and its roster looking the way the front office drew it up. That's the good news, and it's genuinely good. The question that lingers is a softer one: whether a young center who spent months in a very public standoff with his employer shows up to camp with the same investment the organization is asking of him. Contracts get signed. Trust takes longer.