Shinzaki

So it's not really a meaningful data point...

Pistons lost 60+ games with Cade...is he not elite?

And how many minutes is tht and who else is on the court?

You can shut down an elite post scorer if you pack the paint to shut him down. Duren is so far above Drummond in terms of work on defense nd passing ability...that said, Drummond's had a long NBA career and he's arguably the 4th or 5th best Pistons big in the last 50 years. (Lanier, Wallace, Laimbeer , Drummond and Duren).

Duren is an elite rebounder and scorer in the paint and has shown a decent jumper from the line, be great if he shot it more...but he doesn't need to particularly often. I'm intrigued by the ability to pass out of the high post that he displayed when Cade was injured, I think he averaged around 4 assists in the last half dozen games or so and picked up 4 the other night. Ausar is a great defender and is fun to watch...but I'm not paying him max. He lacks discipline and control and has no real offensive game

They are specifically defending him by packing the middle..they aren't doing that as much with Stew out there. One of the areas he improved in this year is his ability to facilitate from the high post down by either making an extra pass on the interior or kicking it out. He's the team's best rebounder..and I don't just mean statistically..and he makes the shots he takes and draws a lot of fouls. He the converts them at a high rate. He lead the league in true shooting %.... I like Ausar..but he's an even more "flawed" player than Duren in that he can not shoot...at all. I want to keep them both, but let's not Pretend that Ausar isn't seriously hampered offesnively

Disagree on Duren...he's been a focal point of Orlando's defense for a reason. I'm not entirley convinced he's completely healthy right now...since his knee injury he does not look as explosive off the floor as he was prior to that...I suspect he might be playing through a nagging injury. Nonetheless..he's made strides in a number of areas this year, including his ability to make passes off the double team when they collapse.

If you trade for EP...2nd line C between Cat and Kane. Mantha is a FA...bring him home to give Larkin and Raymond a bodyguard on the 1st line. Or get Bert back from the Blackhawks..proven chemistry with Larkin and Raymond

I could see not drafting McCoy at 17...maybe take shot at 50?

I think running James and Mazur on the bottom six would probably be an improvement 5 on 5 over the current mix and necessitate smaller improvements in the top 6

James is a good skater From the highlights I've seen..James is a pretty good skater...I'm not going to neg him for not being Alex DeBrincat. No one expects him to be that. Even if it's true that he's going to be scoring mostly by driving the net...we sure as hell need that on our roster. Our bottom six is occupied by a lot of guys who shy away from physical hockey and they have a tendency to float through games. Again..from what I've seen, James would provide us with some of what we're missing on the bottom six

Of all the guys I've heard connected to them...including McCoy...the one I'm least interested in is Proctor. I'm actually warming up to the idea of taking McCoy

Curious why you think he has limited skill? He scored 21 in 40 college games...and he's a very good skater. I think he profiles as a bottom six wing and PK

Dylan James scored two last night...I had Finnie as a darkhorse to make the team last year, I think James will be a great under the radar bottom six guy next year

We'll take that POS Adam Fantilli off their hands...and that Werenski bum. Realistically...former 1st rd pick Kent Johnson tailed off badly this year...maybe we could get him. I'm sure Ken Daniels would love to have another UM guy to talk about