Hours Before the Deadline, Jalen Duren Takes Detroit's $200 Million

Jalen Duren's standoff with the Pistons went all the way to the last night. He had until 11:59 p.m. ET Thursday to decide whether to sign Detroit's one-year, $9.6 million qualifying offer. Instead, he took the deal that had been sitting there for two weeks: five years, $200 million, fully guaranteed.

His agent, Chafie Fields, confirmed the agreement to ESPN's Shams Charania. It ends four months of back-and-forth that ran through the summer and into the first week of training camp, where Duren skipped media day and sat out practices.

It wasn't only about money

The numbers had moved. Duren had offers between $170 million and $190 million over the summer before Detroit got to $200 million. But his camp made it clear this week that he felt disrespected by how he was treated, especially compared with Ausar Thompson, who got a five-year, $155 million rookie extension earlier this month. Duren also objected to weight clauses in some of the earlier offers.

Taking the qualifying offer would have made him an unrestricted free agent next summer, and it would have been a first. No player who has made an All-NBA or All-Star team has ever signed one.

A great season, a quiet playoff run

Duren, 22, is coming off the best season of his career. He averaged 19.5 points and 10.5 rebounds on 65% shooting in 70 games and made All-NBA as Detroit took the top seed in the East.

The playoffs were a different story. In 14 games his numbers fell to 10.5 points and 8.5 rebounds on 51% shooting, and the Pistons were knocked out by Cleveland. Detroit is paying for the regular-season version, and it will need that player in May.

The bigger question for the Pistons now is how quickly the relationship recovers. He'll be in practice right away, and the season opener is less than a month off.