Zach Lowe

Jalen Duren.

I had two people from the Pistons text me in the last 48 hours being like, hey, what do you think of Jalen Duren?

Is he going to make All-NBA?

Is it going to be close?

Like, is he going to get snubbed?

I think he's a lock.

I think he has to be All-NBA the way he's carried the offense and carried the team without Cade Cunningham.

To me, he would be on my ballot.

I don't know about yours, but just the Pistons remain one of the stories of the season.

And I did not think whatever their schedule was that they would win this many games without Cade.

And just when he gets a defensive rebound, it's a green light to bring the ball up the floor and not waste any time and take advantage of whatever, you know, advantages the Pistons have.

I think he should be.

And he's one of the leading candidates for most improved player.

I'm not sure he'd be my pick, but we'll get into that later.

So the Pistons feel rock solid in that they're going to get the number one seed.

Whether Cade comes back when Cade comes back is a huge question.

They can't win the East without Cade Cunningham, but they know exactly who they are and what their identity is.

And

reintegrating him will be as seamless as reintegrating tatum has been for boston boston feels rock solid ascendant tatum is ascendant the whole team is absolutely rolling they know exactly who they are as their identity they know what they want to accomplish all the time there is never any confusion about what we're trying to do on any possession

The next two teams in the East are so fascinating to me, maybe the two most fascinating in the league because we're 75 games in and because of roster construction, mid-season upheaval, injuries, whatever, it still feels like both the Cavs and the Knicks are trying to figure some fundamental things out about themselves, stuff that the Pistons and the Celtics have already figured out.