The Pistons resolved their front office and coaching situations with a single move last week, hiring Stan Van Gundy as president of basketball operations as well as head coach. Still, the honeymoon didn’t last long, as Tuesday’s lottery forced the team to hand its first-round pick over to Charlotte. Here’s the latest from the Motor City:
- The Pistons are set to hire Brendan Malone as an assistant coach, a source tells Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. The 72-year-old resigned a week before this past season began from his gig as the lead assistant for the Kings and head coach Michael Malone, his son. Brendan Malone served as an assistant to Chuck Daly during Detroit’s Bad Boy era.
- Van Gundy is about halfway through the interview process in his search for a GM, as he said to Matt Dery on WMGC-FM in Detroit. Free Press scribe Kirkland Crawford rounds up Van Gundy’s remarks.
- Detroit’s new one-to-one D-League affiliation makes it less likely the Pistons will select an overseas “draft-and-stash” player at No. 38, since the front office would probably prefer any remedial work be done close to home, MLive’s David Mayo suggests. Mayo addresses that and more in his mailbag column.