It’s been a tumultuous season in Detroit this year. Team owner Tom Gores expected better than a 25-44 record when he approved the acquisitions of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. These expectations not being met led to the firing of coach Maurice Cheeks, and could result in Joe Dumars losing his position as president of basketball operations when his contract expires after this season. Don’t expect the decision on Dumars to linger once the Pistons season is over, writes David Mayo of MLive. Gores said, “Yeah, after the season, we’re going to address it right away. We have to. We have to let the season play out, then we’ve got to get it done.”
More from Motown:
- In a separate article, Mayo discusses the possibility of Isiah Thomas taking over for Dumars next season. When asked about the possibility of joining the Pistons front office, Thomas sidestepped the issue, but Thomas has made it known that he wants another NBA position. Thomas was also asked if he saw the current team as a number of ill-fitting pieces, and he said, “I’m not in a position to really critique the team or look at it that way. I’m just a fan that roots for the team. Every night I watch them, I want them to win and I want them to play well. I’m always going to be a fan that roots for the Pistons and loves the Pistons.“
- Tom Gores made his first public comments about the Cheeks firing last night, writes Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. Gores said, “It was the right thing to do. I feel good about it. It’s a very young team so we have to put them in a position to do well as much as possible. I felt they were not in a position to grow as much as possible so I feel good about it.”
- Gores still feels good about his team despite their poor record, writes Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The team owner also shot down any notion of the team tanking at this point in the season, according to the article. Gores said, “Well first of all I’m not giving up. No way. It’s not possible. We have to keep building. We have great building blocks in our young guys. Look, we have a lot to do. There’s no way that anything great happens without tough times. That’s the way it goes. So I’m comfortable.”