The Detroit Pistons can now breathe and focus completely on basketball. Center Jalen Duren finally reached an agreement to return to the team after signing his five-year, $200 million extension. Both sides were at a stalemate all offseason as they searched for a resolution. Duren finally felt comfortable with the provided terms and signed the deal Thursday night.

Amid the uncertainty, the Pistons showed solidarity in support of their All-Star big man as he made his decision. Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff echoed that solidarity and excitement to finally have Duren back in the mix.

“We're obviously excited to have him back. Like I said yesterday, our expectation was that he was always going to be back. We were planning accordingly. To get it done, to get him in the building and start the process of getting him back on court with the crew is great for us,” Bickerstaff explained after practice on Friday. “We know how much he means to us, how important he has been for the past couple of years, and how important he's going to be moving forward in the future. That's our guy, he's been our guy, we're happy to have him back.”

Duren was a standout player last season, earning All-Star and All-NBA nods for the Pistons. In his fourth year with Detroit, Duren averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds during the regular season. He showed the ability to thrive as a complementary scorer next to franchise point guard Cade Cunningham, and even as the primary hub for the Pistons.

Unfortunately, the regular-season dominance did not translate over to the playoffs. Duren struggled on both ends of the floor against the Orlando Magic and the Cleveland Cavaliers. That same aggression and polished play went missing and played a huge part in Detroit coming up short against the Cavaliers in Game 7.

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Regardless of that struggle, the Pistons still extended their working relationship with Duren for five more seasons. They will not hang their hat on the loss of last postseason, and expectations will continue to climb for the 22-year-old big man.

Detroit trimmed up their roster with hopes of adding new players to provide more spacing and two-way production to the Pistons. That ended up with the team moving on from power forward Tobias Harris in free agency and trading away backup center Isaiah Stewart. Harris decided to head back to the Western Conference, signing with the San Antonio Spurs. Stewart was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies for three future second-round picks.

Harris and Stewart were benchmark players who helped establish the winning identity of the Pistons after years of turmoil. Now, the Pistons are relying on Duren to pick up where they left off as a leader of the franchise and the frontcourt. Detroit needs Duren to become the defensive enforcer and a multi-skilled talent offensively that they envisioned when he was drafted here.

The Pistons are looking to operate with more space available for Duren to work with in the paint. Detroit added three new high-level floor spacers and 3-point shooters this offseason with John Collins, Taurean Prince, and Isaiah Joe. This should provide more floor spacing to capitalize on the dangerous pick-and-roll tandem of Cunningham and Duren.