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2018 NBA Head Coaching Carousel Recap

June 12th, 2018 at 12:17pm CST by Luke Adams

After a 2017 offseason in which no NBA team made a head coaching change, the coaching carousel started spinning again once the 2017/18 regular season got underway. The Suns fired Earl Watson just four games into the season, and the Bucks and Grizzlies followed suit with in-season changes of their own.

At the end of the 2017/18 campaign, six more teams made coaching changes, meaning nearly one-third of the league’s 30 clubs will enter next season with head coaches who have been on the job for less than a year.

Here’s a recap of which teams have made head coaching changes during the ’17/18 NBA league year:

Atlanta Hawks

  • Hired: Lloyd Pierce (story)
  • Replaced: Mike Budenholzer (story)
  • Contract details: Four-year deal; fourth-year team option (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Nate Tibbetts, Stephen Silas, Jay Larranaga, Jarron Collins, Darvin Ham, David Fizdale

Pierce has an extensive résumé as an NBA assistant, having worked for the Cavaliers (2007-10), Warriors (2010-11), Grizzlies (2011-13), and Sixers (2013-18). His time in Golden State overlapped with Travis Schlenk‘s tenure in the Warriors’ front office. This will be Pierce’s first NBA head coaching job.

Charlotte Hornets

  • Hired: James Borrego (story)
  • Replaced: Steve Clifford (story)
  • Contract details: Four-year deal (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Jay Larranaga, Jerry Stackhouse, Ettore Messina, David Fizdale, Ime Udoka, David Vanterpool, Jim Boylen, Nick Nurse

Although he earned a little experience as an interim head coach in Orlando in 2015, Borrego has primarily served as an NBA assistant throughout his coaching career. He was previously an assistant for the Spurs (2003-10; 2015-18), Hornets (2010-12), and Magic (2012-15). This will be Borrego’s first permanent NBA head coaching job.

Detroit Pistons

  • Hired: Dwane Casey (story)
  • Replaced: Stan Van Gundy (story)
  • Contract details: Five-year deal, $35MM+ (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Kenny Smith, Juwan Howard, Ime Udoka, John Beilein, Jason Kidd, Nick Nurse
    • Note: The Pistons reportedly wanted to interview Mike Budenholzer before he was hired by the Bucks.

The 2018 recipient of the National Coaches Basketball Association’s Coach of the Year award, Casey is coming off a successful seven-year run as the Raptors’ head coach. A former assistant for the SuperSonics (1994-2005) and Mavericks (2008-11), Casey also had a head coaching stint with the Timberwolves (2005-07). This will be his third NBA head coaching job.

Memphis Grizzlies

  • Hired: J.B. Bickerstaff (story)
  • Replaced: David Fizdale (in-season change)
  • Contract details: Three-year deal; third-year team option (link)

Of the nine teams who named new permanent head coaches this spring, Memphis was the only one not to conduct a full-fledged search. The Grizzlies opted to remove Bickerstaff’s interim tag, despite his 15-48 record last season. Bickerstaff was the Rockets’ interim head coach in 2015/16, but this will be his first role as a permanent head coach.

Milwaukee Bucks

  • Hired: Mike Budenholzer (story)
  • Replaced: Jason Kidd (in-season change); Joe Prunty (interim coach)
  • Contract details: Four-year deal (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Joe Prunty, Ettore Messina, Steve Clifford, Monty Williams, David Blatt, Becky Hammon, Jay Larranaga, Jim Cleamons
    • Note: The Bucks reportedly wanted to interview James Borrego before he was hired by the Horents.

Budenholzer began interviewing for other head coaching positions while still under contract with the Hawks, but eventually he and Atlanta formally parted ways. The Milwaukee job will give Budenholzer the chance to avoid going through the rebuild in Atlanta. A longtime Spurs assistant (1996-2013), Budenholzer led the Hawks for five seasons. This will be his second NBA head coaching job.

New York Knicks

  • Hired: David Fizdale (story)
  • Replaced: Jeff Hornacek (story)
  • Contract details: Four-year deal (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Jerry Stackhouse, Mark Jackson, Mike Woodson, Kenny Smith, Mike Budenholzer, David Blatt, James Borrego, Jay Larranaga, Juwan Howard (story), Mike Brown

Fizdale, a veteran assistant with the Warriors (2003-04), Hawks (2004-08), and Heat (2008-16), received his first shot as an NBA head coach in Memphis in 2016. He was fired just 19 games into his second season with the Grizzlies, but was a popular candidate for teams with coaching openings this spring. This will be Fizdale’s second NBA head coaching job.

Orlando Magic

  • Hired: Steve Clifford (story)
  • Replaced: Frank Vogel (story)
  • Contract details: Four-year deal (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: David Vanterpool, Ime Udoka, Kelvin Sampson, David Fizdale

The Magic conducted the longest-lasting head coaching search of any team and ultimately landed on Clifford, who is coming off a five-year stint as the head coach in Charlotte. Prior to joining the Hornets, Clifford worked as an assistant for the Knicks (2001-03), Rockets (2003-07), Magic (2007-12), and Lakers (2012-13). This will be his second NBA head coaching job.

Phoenix Suns

  • Hired: Igor Kokoskov (story)
  • Replaced: Earl Watson (in-season change); Jay Triano (interim coach)
  • Contract details: Three-year deal (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: David Fizdale, Frank Vogel, Steve Clifford, Vinny Del Negro, James Borrego, Nick Nurse, Chris Finch, Jason Kidd, Mike Budenholzer

Kokoskov has been an assistant coach for several NBA teams, including the Clippers (2000-03), Pistons (2003-08), Suns (2008-13), Cavaliers (2013-14), Magic (2015), and Jazz (2015-18). He also has some international head coaching experience, having coached the Serbian, Georgian, and Slovenian national teams. This will be Kokoskov’s first NBA head coaching job, and he also becomes the league’s first European-born head coach.

Toronto Raptors

  • Hired: Nick Nurse (story)
  • Replaced: Dwane Casey (story)
  • Contract details: Three-year deal, $10MM (link)
  • Also reportedly interviewed: Rex Kalamian, Jerry Stackhouse, Ettore Messina, Ime Udoka, Sarunas Jasikevicius, Mike Budenholzer

Nurse coached outside of the NBA for much of his career, spending more than a decade in the British Basketball League and six seasons in the G League. He arrived in Toronto as an assistant in 2013 and has spent the last five years on the Raptors’ bench. This will be his first NBA head coaching job.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Central Notes: Casey, Nwaba, Bulls, Pacers

June 12th, 2018 at 9:50am CST by Luke Adams

While Dwane Casey was always viewed as a strong candidate for the Pistons‘ head coaching job, right up until the team hired him on Monday, the former Raptors coach seriously considered taking a year off, tweets Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca. As Lewenberg observes though, the Pistons really sold Casey on their situation, and sitting around isn’t really in his nature anyway.

TNT’s David Aldridge provides further context on Casey’s decision, tweeting that the veteran coach wasn’t inclined to accept the job as recently as Saturday morning. However, Pistons ownership and management – led by Tom Gores – put the “full-court press” on in order to finalize a deal.

According to Aldridge, one concession the Pistons made was letting Casey pick his assistants. Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press (Twitter link) hears from a source that there was no pressure from ownership to pick Casey’s assistants for him, and Aldridge notes the team’s denial, but insists that multiple sources say otherwise (Twitter link). As Aldridge notes, it wouldn’t have been unprecedented for Casey to inherit some assistants that Pistons management likes, and it’s possible he’ll do just that, but he won’t be obligated to do so.

Here’s more from around the Central division:

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Pistons Hire Dwane Casey As Head Coach

June 11th, 2018 at 2:23pm CST by Luke Adams

2:23pm: The Pistons have officially announced Casey’s hiring, issuing a press release to confirm the move.

“Dwane is one of the most successful and highly respected coaches in our league,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in a statement. “He’s a great communicator and a leader who will connect with our players and accelerate their growth. Having spent many hours with Dwane over the last few weeks, I’m confident he is the right person to get us to the next level.

“In our meetings he displayed great insight into what this roster can accomplish, and great passion about our city and the team’s role in bringing people together,” Gores continued. “He’s an outstanding man with impressive character. He embodies our culture and will be a great representative for our franchise.”

10:52am: The value of Casey’s new deal with the Pistons is slightly above $7MM per year, according to Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press, who notes (via Twitter) that it’s similar to the five-year, $35MM contract Van Gundy got from the club.

10:14am: The Pistons are hiring Dwane Casey as their new head coach, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Wojnarowski, Casey and the Pistons reached an agreement on a five-year contract for the former Raptors coach.

Having been on the lookout for a new coach since parting ways with Stan Van Gundy last month, the Pistons reportedly identified Casey, Spurs assistant Ime Udoka, University of Michigan coach John Beilein, and TNT analyst Kenny Smith as finalists who met with team ownership. However, Beilein withdrew from consideration and the decision appeared to come down to Casey and Udoka. Detroit opted for the candidate who has spent the last seven years as an NBA head coach.

Casey, who took over as the Raptors’ head coach in 2011, became the winningest coach in team history, leading Toronto to a 320-238 (.573) regular season record during his tenure. The Raps enjoyed the best run in franchise history during the last five years, winning between 48 and 59 games each season and making five straight postseason appearances, but their playoff struggles – particularly against LeBron James and the Cavaliers – ultimately resulted in Casey’s ouster.

While Casey’s teams in Toronto struggled to make deep playoff runs, the veteran coach is well regarded around the NBA for his ability to help build a team’s culture, develop players, and get the most out of his roster. He’ll bring those traits to Detroit, where the Pistons will be looking to get back into the postseason with a roster led by Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson.

Casey was named the 2017/18 Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association last month. In addition to winning that award, which was voted on by his coaching peers, Casey is a finalist for the NBA’s official Coach of the Year award, voted on by media members.

The Raptors are now the only NBA team without a head coach in place.

[RELATED: 2018 NBA Head Coaching Search Tracker]

Since Van Gundy was the Pistons’ president of basketball operations as well as its head coach, the franchise has also been seeking a new head of basketball ops this spring. While it may seem backwards to hire a new head coach before deciding on a new general manager, newly-hired executive Ed Stefanski led the Pistons’ coaching search and figures to have a strong voice in the basketball operations department in the coming years in his special advisor role.

As they seek a new GM, the Pistons are said to be looking for a young, up-and-coming executive who is capable of being the face of the front office for the next decade. The list of candidates being considered by the club includes several men who were playing in the NBA – or another league – within the five or 10 years. Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Hawks manager of basketball operations Malik Rose, TNT analyst Brent Barry, and former Pistons players Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince are among the names that have surfaced in recent weeks.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Impressed Dwane Casey Says 'Nothing Finalized' With Pistons

June 10th, 2018 at 5:10pm CST by Austin Kent
  • After a series of media appearances, there’s reason to believe that Dwane Casey is the frontrunner to land the Pistons‘ head coaching gig. The man himself pumped the brakes in an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols (h/t MLive’s Ansar Khan), saying that nothing has been finalized.
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And-Ones: Superteams, Cook, Williams

June 10th, 2018 at 1:51pm CST by Austin Kent

With the 2018 NBA Finals now officially wrapped, the offseason has begun. Now, Ken Berger of Bleacher Report writes, players and teams around the league will waste no time scraping away for ways to conquer one of the sport’s greatest rosters. One of those options? Find a way to form an even more powerful superteam.

Berger writes about the rise of the modern superteam era, one that he says traces back over a decade to when the Celtics brought All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen aboard to team up with Paul Pierce and win a title. A feeling of futility matched up against those Hall of Famers, Cavaliers forward LeBron James says, contributed to his decision to in turn team up with Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade with the Heat.

More recently, it was what Berger calls a flaw in the salary cap system that allowed the Warriors to add Kevin Durant mere months after setting the all-time record for regular season wins. A boost in broadcasting revenue after the 2011 lockout precipitated a massive spike in the salary cap.

At the time, Berger writes, league commissioner Adam Silver pushed to spread the increase out over several seasons but the player’s union fought to keep the increase in one lump sum. The result? A $24MM salary cap increase that allowed the Warriors to sign a fourth superstar without giving up any major roster pieces.

There’s more from around the league:

  • Former Heat swingman Daequan Cook has signed an extension to return to Ironi Ness Ziona in Israel, international basketball reporter David Pick tweets. Cook last saw NBA action in 2012/13.
  • Though it’s only been seven years since he was drafted with the No. 2 pick, Derrick Williams has seen the NBA landscape around him do an about-face with regard to how it values the hybridization of player positions. Keith Langlois of Detroit’s official team site writes about how the journeyman forward auditioning for the Pistons is hoping that being a “tweener” can help him land another gig in the league.
  • Legendary hoops analyst Hubie Brown suffered a knee injury prior to Game 4 of the NBA Finals and wasn’t able to broadcast over the radio, an ESPN report says. There’s no indication that the 84-year-old’s injury was self-inflicted after letting his emotions get the best of him.
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Beilein Wasn't Offered Coaching Job

June 8th, 2018 at 6:26pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Michigan coach John Beilein was not offered the Pistons head coaching job before he withdrew his candidacy on Wednesday, Brendan Quinn of The Athletic reports. Beilein was one of the finalists along with ex-Raptors coach Dwane Casey and Spurs assistant Ime Udoka. Beilein was uncomfortable with the attention that he received when his name surfaced publicly and grew tired of the dragged-out process. But he admitted he would have strongly considered taking the NBA job if it had been offered. “I just said, let’s just move forward. I’ll make their decision easier,” Beilein told Quinn. “I felt like, well, if they’re not certain — and I understand that, it’s OK — but if they’re not certain, then I’m not going to be certain.”

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Dakota Mathias To Work Out For Pistons

June 8th, 2018 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams
  • After auditioning for Charlotte, Purdue guard Dakota Mathias also has workouts on tap with the Lakers, Pistons, and Kings, a league source tells Adam Zagoria of ZagsBlog.com (Twitter link). Mathias, who averaged 12.0 PPG with a .466 3PT% in his senior year, previously worked out for Toronto.
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Pistons Wanted To Talk To Terry Stotts About HC Job

June 7th, 2018 at 2:47pm CST by Luke Adams
  • While it briefly appeared that Terry Stotts‘ job might be in jeopardy after the Trail Blazers were swept by the Pelicans in April, the Pistons wanted to talk to Stotts about their coaching job and Portland denied them permission, reports Mitch Lawrence of The Sporting News (Twitter link). Lawrence adds that John Beilein had legit interest in the Detroit job, and consulted with NBA team executives before electing to remain with the Wolverines.
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Five Key Offseason Questions: Detroit Pistons

June 7th, 2018 at 9:42am CST by Luke Adams

After winning 44 games and earning a playoff berth during Stan Van Gundy‘s second year with the franchise in 2015/16, the Pistons regressed over the last couple seasons, playing sub-.500 ball and failing to return to the postseason. Van Gundy took one last big swing prior to the 2018 trade deadline, acquiring Blake Griffin in a mega-deal with the Clippers, but it wasn’t enough to turn Detroit’s season around or to earn Van Gundy another year.

Pistons owner Tom Gores was fully on board with the trade for Griffin, so Van Gundy didn’t lose his job because that move failed to have an immediate impact. It was time for both sides to move on though, and that means the Pistons are in the market for both a head coach and a head of basketball operations, since Van Gundy held both roles.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Who will the Pistons hire to coach the team and to run the front office?

The Pistons appear poised to finalize their head coaching search before hiring a new general manager, which sounds backwards. However, it may simply speak to Ed Stefanski‘s importance in the new front office hierarchy. Stefanski’s official title is “special advisor,” and not “president of basketball operations.” But he’ll report directly to Gores and has extensive basketball ops experience. It will be interesting to see how much input he’ll ultimately have in roster decisions once a new GM comes aboard.

That new GM appears likely to be someone who hasn’t held that position for another team. The Pistons are said to be seeking a young, up-and-coming executive who is capable of being the face of the front office for the next decade. As such, the list of names being considered by the club includes several men who were playing in the NBA – or another league – within the five or 10 years. Among them: Nets assistant GM Trajan Langdon, Hawks manager of basketball operations Malik Rose, TNT analyst Brent Barry, and former Pistons players Chauncey Billups and Tayshaun Prince.

Whle the Pistons may hire a relatively inexperienced GM, the current frontrunner for the coaching job has an extensive head coaching résumé — Dwane Casey, recently fired by the Raptors, coached the club for seven seasons and had a huge amount of regular season success. While his struggles in the postseason, particularly against LeBron James-led teams, may be a longer-term concern for Detroit, Casey’s ability to build a culture and develop players would serve the franchise well. Assuming Casey doesn’t want to take a year off from coaching, I’d expect him to be the choice over less experienced options like Spurs assistant Ime Udoka and TNT’s Kenny Smith.

2. Will the Pistons’ new GM follow Van Gundy’s blueprint?

In some cases, a new general manager will have a mandate to rebuild his roster when he lands with a new team, but that seems unlikely to be the case in Detroit, given the veteran-heavy nature of the team’s roster. Before he left the Pistons, Van Gundy was insistent that the club could contend if Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson stayed healthy. Will the new GM feel the same way?

If so, we’re unlikely to see many major changes made to the Pistons’ roster this summer, which could be a good thing. The Pelicans’ fortunes didn’t turn around immediately after they acquired DeMarcus Cousins in a midseason deal, but a year later, everything came together for the club. There’s no guarantee that the same thing will happen for the Pistons and Griffin, but a full offseason and training camp together should bode well for the 2018/19 season.

I’d expect the Pistons’ new GM to give the current group every opportunity to succeed to start next season, perhaps revisiting that approach by the 2019 trade deadline if necessary.

Read more

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Pistons Hosting Free-Agent Mini-Camp

June 6th, 2018 at 7:24pm CST by clarkcrum

While most NBA teams are spending their time hosting pre-draft workouts for draft-eligible prospects, the Pistons are concentrating their energy on the free agent market already, holding a free-agent minicamp today for multiple NBA hopefuls and a few former NBA players.

Bereft of a first round selection in the 2018 NBA Draft as a result of the club’s mid-season trade for Blake Griffin, the Pistons are surely hoping to get a jump start on the competition for the services of some lesser known free agents this summer.

Keith Langlois of Pistons.com provides a look at the minicamp roster, with the most well-known name having to be former No. 2 overall pick, Derrick Williams, who holds career averages of 8.9 PPG and 4.0 RPG in 428 career contests.

Other invitees with NBA experience include Williams’ former teammate with the Cavs during the 2016/17 season, Jordan McRae, as well as five-year veteran John Jenkins, the No. 40 overall selection in the 2016 NBA Draft – Diamond Stone, and a 10-day contract recipient from this past season – Marcus Thornton.

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