- The Pistons lack the cap space to be a major player in free agency, but the team could be in the mix for certain affordable targets. As Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes, Dwane Casey‘s presence and the Pistons’ roster stability could be selling points as the club recruits free agents.
Dwane Casey was named the league’s Coach of the Year at the NBA’s second annual awards show.
This continues the awkwardness of Casey getting a top coaching award for his efforts with a franchise that fired him after the playoffs. He was let go by the Raptors after they were swept by the Cavaliers. His peers at the National Basketball Coaches Association also named him their Coach of the Year days before he fired.
He was named the Pistons’ new head coach earlier this month.
The Jazz’s Quin Snyder and Celtics’ Brad Stevens were the other finalists. The Rockets’ Mike D’Antoni earned the honor the previous season.
The Pistons have reached an agreement with veteran coach Sidney Lowe and will add him to Dwane Casey‘s new staff, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). According to Wojnarowski, Lowe will be the lead assistant in Detroit.
Lowe, who has head coaching stints for the Timberwolves, Grizzlies, and North Carolina State on his résumé, has primarily served as an NBA assistant coach for the better part of the last three decades. In addition to spending multiple stints with the Wolves since first joining the club as an assistant in 1991, Lowe has also worked for the Cavaliers, Pistons, Jazz, and Wizards.
Casey is still in the process of filling out his staff after being hired as the Pistons’ new head coach earlier in the offseason. The club reportedly struck a deal with Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney to bring him to Detroit, while DJ Bakker is also joining the Pistons as Casey’s new player development coach.
- Dwane Casey continues to fill out his new staff in Detroit, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, who reports (via Twitter) that DJ Bakker is heading from the Raptors to the Pistons to become Casey’s player development coach.
- RealGM’s log of traded draft picks provides specific details on a couple more draft-night trades, indicating that the Sixers received 2021 and 2023 second-round picks in their deal with the Pistons, while the Magic will receive the less favorable of the Nuggets’ and Wizards’ 2019 second-round picks as a result of their swap with the Nuggets.
The Pistons were looking to add depth at the wing spots and got two players who will compete for minutes next season, Keith Langlois of Pistons.com writes. Detroit didn’t have a first-round pick but traded away two future second-rounders to the Sixers to nab Creighton’s Khyri Thomas at No. 38, then chose Bruce Brown of Miami (Fla.) four picks later with their own selection.
“You never know how the draft’s going to go,” senior advisor Ed Stefanski said. “It didn’t look like we were going to be able to move like we did. People were asking for some big asks, but as the night went on it got much better and we were able to make the move. … We need some young guys, especially, to play that position.”
Stanley Johnson, Reggie Bullock and Luke Kennard are projected to eat up most of the minutes at those spots but Thomas and Brown could get into the mix if an injury strikes.
In other news regarding the Pistons:
- Stefanski notified the team’s scouting department that their contracts would not be renewed at the end of the month, Jake Fischer of Sports Illustrated tweets. The team’s front office is undergoing a complete makeover after head coach and president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy and GM Jeff Bower were dismissed. The team is still seeking one or more young executives to take front office roles. Spurs executive Malik Rose has been offered a front office job. New head coach Dwane Casey is in the process of building his staff. The team reached an agreement with Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney to join its staff.
- Top players Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson were asked for their input when owner Tom Gores was conducting the coaching search, Langlois writes in a separate piece. “I did consult with them, (though) they weren’t making the decision,” Gores said. “I texted Reggie, Andre, Blake. ‘What kind of coach do you want? Let’s check the boxes.’ I did engage with them. I know them pretty well. Meeting Dwane, he really did check all those boxes.”
- Bruce Brown underwent season-ending foot surgery in his final season with the Hurricanes but he has no restrictions this offseason, as he told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press and other media members. “I’m good to go,” Brown said. “I’m fully cleared. All my medicals look fine at the combine so I’m ready to go 100 percent.”
The Pistons have reached an agreement with Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney to join Dwane Casey’s staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.
Detroit had been making a hard push to convince Sweeney to make the switch. Sweeney has worked closely with Bucks’ star Giannis Antetokounmpo.
One of the concessions the Pistons made in negotiations with the former Raptors head coach was that he could pick his own assistants.
Sweeney was one of the candidates for the Nets’ head coaching job two years ago when they wound up hiring Kenny Atkinson.
10:20pm: Detroit will be sending two future second-round picks, Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press tweets.
10:14pm: The Sixers will be trading No. 38 pick Khyri Thomas to the Pistons, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports tweets. It’s unclear what will be heading back to Philadelphia.
While Detroit could have waited and hoped for the Creighton product to be available at No. 42, Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders notes that the Lakers would have certainly taken him at No. 39.
Thomas is a two-time Big East defensive player of the year that had first-round buzz. The 22-year-old averaged 15.1 points per game in his junior season.
While we’ve heard a couple times already this offseason that the Raptors are open for business and won’t make anyone on their roster untouchable in trade talks, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca notes that the team may be especially focused on shaking up the “top end of its top-heavy roster.”
That could mean that a player like DeMar DeRozan, Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, or Serge Ibaka is on the move in the coming days or weeks, since those four players are on track to earn nearly $100MM in 2018/19. For what it’s worth, one source told Grange that he believes at least one of the Raptors’ big – or “medium” – three won’t be back next season, referring to Lowry, DeRozan, and Ibaka.
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference as we wait for the 2018 NBA draft to get underway:
- ESPN’s Brian Windhorst suggests that Shai Gilgeous-Alexander isn’t interested in playing for the Cavaliers, reporting that Gilgeous-Alexander refused to work out for Cleveland and made a point to tell the team he didn’t want to be there (Twitter link). The Kentucky point guard is considered a candidate to come off the board in the top 10.
- The Heat, who have explored the possibility of trading back into the draft, have made Justise Winslow available in their discussions, tweets Jake Fischer of SI.com. Like the Raptors, the Heat have suggested no one on their roster will be off-limits this summer, so that doesn’t come as a real surprise.
- The Pistons are making a “hard push” to hire Bucks assistant Sean Sweeney for Dwane Casey‘s new staff in Detroit, league sources tell Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Stein notes that Sweeney has worked as closely with Giannis Antetokounmpo as any coach in Milwaukee.
The Pistons have offered a front office position to Hawks executive Malik Rose, reports Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). While nothing is official yet, the Pistons and Rose are engaged in conversations and are working toward a deal, Charania adds.
Rose, who currently holds the title of manager of basketball operations in Atlanta, serves as the general manager of the Erie BayHawks, the Hawks’ G League affiliate. In his first season in that role, Rose was named the NBAGL Executive of the Year. He has previously been identified as a potential target for the Pistons.
Detroit has reshaped its front office this offseason, parting ways with president of basketball operations Stan Van Gundy and general manager Jeff Bower, then bringing aboard Grizzlies executive Ed Stefanski in a senior advisor position. It appears Stefanski – who reports directly to owner Tom Gores – will have more influence than a typical advisor, having already led the head coaching search that saw the club hire Dwane Casey.
While Stefanski may ultimately serve as the de facto head of basketball operations, Rose would likely still be in line for a major role in the front office. It’s not clear yet what title the Pistons would have in mind for him, assuming the two sides finalize an agreement.
Meanwhile, Rose may not be the only new addition to the Pistons’ front office. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press suggests (via Twitter) that TNT analyst Brent Barry still appears to be receiving consideration for a management role as well.