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Weekly Mailbag: 6/4/18 – 6/10/18

June 10th, 2018 at 12:58pm CST by Arthur Hill

We have an opportunity for you to hit us up with your questions in this, our weekly mailbag feature. Have a question regarding player movement, the salary cap or the NBA draft? Drop us a line at HoopsRumorsMailbag@Gmail.com.

If the Cavaliers draft Trae Young or Michael Porter Jr., do you think it will be enough to convince LeBron James to stay put in Cleveland, seeing that the Cavs will still be a strong team? — Greg Dizon

Don’t forget that when LeBron returned to Cleveland, he wasn’t excited about the chance to play alongside Andrew Wiggins, encouraging the team to move that year’s top overall pick in a deal for Kevin Love. There’s no one the Cavs could take with at No. 8 who is going to affect James’ decision. He doesn’t just want to be competitive; he wants to find a way to beat the Warriors and add more rings to his legacy. For Cleveland to improve its chances of keeping LeBron, the best strategy is to offer up the draft pick in trade talks to see what kind of veteran help is available.

Lakers/ Heat trade for Hassan Whiteside? How solid is that? — Nicholas Small

There’s no chance at all before free agency, and probably not much afterward. Ever since the current management team took over, the Lakers have been committed to opening up as much cap room as possible to land a big prize or two on the free agent market. There’s no way they’re going to jeopardize that before seeing if they can lure James, Paul George or DeMarcus Cousins. Even if they strike out on all three, the Lakers are more likely to fill their roster with affordable one-year contracts than take a chance on an expensive deal like Whiteside’s. The Heat will be fortunate to get equal value for their enigmatic center, who will make more than $25.4MM next season and has a $27MM option for 2019/20.

Any moves the Wolves are considering … maybe moving Gorgui Dieng, Andrew Wiggins or Jeff Teague? — JMA, via Twitter

Minnesota is hovering near the luxury tax for next season and would love to find a taker for Dieng, who is owed nearly $48.7MM over the next three years. However, there are only a handful of teams able to take on that much salary and it would probably cost the Wolves at least one first-round pick to move him. There would be a larger market for Wiggins because of his age and potential, but he becomes much more expensive when his four-year, $146.5MM extension kicks in next season. Unless there’s some substance to the Karl-Anthony Towns rumors, this will probably be a quiet summer in Minnesota on the trade front.

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Hoops Rumors Originals: 6/2/18 – 6/9/18

June 9th, 2018 at 3:04pm CST by clarkcrum

Every week the Hoops Rumors writing staff strives to create interesting and original content to complement our news feed. Here are the original segments and features from the last seven days:

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Five Key Offseason Questions: Los Angeles Clippers

June 8th, 2018 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

At this time last year, the Clippers still had Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan under contract, and were weighing the possibility of keeping that Big Three intact for the foreseeable future. Now, Paul is a Rocket, Griffin is a Piston, and Jordan’s future with the Clippers is very much in flux, given his pending player option decision.

A 10th-place finish in the Western Conference snapped the Clippers’ streak of six consecutive playoff appearances, a run that may very well have continued if Paul and Griffin had remained with the team. However, the franchise might be better off in the long run by not having its cap weighed down with lucrative, long-term contracts for a pair of injury-prone players who may be entering the tail end of their respective primes.

Here are five key questions facing the Clippers this summer:

1. Did the Griffin trade represent the start of a rebuild or just another path to contention?

In their trade that sent Griffin to Detroit, the Clippers acquired Tobias Harris, Boban Marjanovic, and Avery Bradley. Bradley is an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Harris and Marjanovic will each see their current contracts expire in 2019, so it’s possible that none of those players will become long-term pieces for the organization. If the Clippers want to drastically reshape their roster, letting Bradley walk and shopping Harris and Marjanovic in trade talks are viable possibilities.

However, there have been signs since that blockbuster deal with the Pistons that the Clippers don’t intend to tear it all down. An extension for Doc Rivers was perhaps the most obvious signal that the team is simply retooling, since Rivers has expressed distaste in the past for going through a rebuild. 31-year-old sixth man Lou Williams also got an extension, inking a new three-year, $24MM contract that will cut into the team’s projected cap room for the next summer.

If the Clippers really wanted to blow things up, they likely wouldn’t have stopped after moving Griffin. Jordan was another prime trade candidate, and one who likely could have netted the Clips another valuable draft pick if he’d been moved in February. Instead, the team held onto him, continuing to discuss the possibility of a longer-term extension.

The Clippers have some flexibility to go in a number of directions, but a full-fledged rebuild seems unlikely. This looks like a team that changed directions, but still wants to compete for the playoffs and focus on win-now moves rather than looking several years down the road.

2. Will everyone exercise their player options?

When their offseason began, the Clippers’ roster featured four veterans holding player options for the 2018/19 season. Wesley Johnson ($6.13MM) has already opted in, leaving Milos Teodosic ($6.3MM), Austin Rivers ($12.65MM), and Jordan ($24.12MM) with decisions to make.

Of the three, Rivers seems like the surest bet to pick up his option. Doc’s son has established himself as a solid defender, and was more productive than ever on offense last season (15.1 PPG, .378 3PT%), so his contract is hardly an albatross. Still, he signed during the free agent boom of 2016, and probably wouldn’t match his option salary if he opts out.

Teodosic and Jordan are trickier cases. Injuries slowed Teodosic during his first NBA season, but the longtime EuroLeague standout was effective when he played. He’s unlikely to secure much of a raise on his option salary, but he could look for a team where he’d have a clearer role. With Rivers, Williams, Patrick Beverley, and Jawun Evans set to return, and the possibility of the Clippers adding another guard in the draft, the club has no shortage of potential ball-handlers.

Meanwhile, Jordan’s decision will have the greatest impact on the Clippers’ offseason. In fact, his potential free agency deserves a question of its own…

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Community Shootaround: Sixers’ GM Job

June 8th, 2018 at 11:31am CST by Luke Adams

Nine days after The Ringer published a fascinating report linking Sixers president of basketball operations Bryan Colangelo to a handful of anonymous Twitter accounts that had seemingly revealed sensitive information about the franchise, Colangelo announced his resignation on Thursday, confirming that he and the club had agreed to part ways.

It was an extremely unusual way for a top executive to lose his job, but the upshot is that the Sixers have become the third NBA team this spring in the market for a new head of basketball operations. The Hornets hired Mitch Kupchak as their new GM and president of basketball ops, while the Pistons’ search remains active.

While Detroit’s list of candidates has included several executives who recently retired as NBA players and don’t have extensive front office experience, the early – and informal – list of options in Philadelphia looks a little heavier on former GMs and seasoned top lieutenants.

Former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin has been cited most frequently, viewed as an ideal fit not just due to his résumé in Cleveland, but due to his connection to a certain Cav — LeBron James figures to be the Sixers’ top target in free agency this summer, so bringing aboard a GM LeBron liked could boost the team’s chances of landing him.

League sources have also identified Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren as a top candidate for the 76ers, writes Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer. Zarren has received consideration for several GM jobs over the years – including the Philadelphia gig before Sam Hinkie was hired in 2013 – but has always opted to remain in Boston. His track record suggests he won’t leave the C’s, but the Sixers, armed with a pair of potential franchise players, a top-10 pick, and significant cap room, would be an extremely appealing landing spot.

O’Connor indicates that Sixers vice president of player personnel Marc Eversley and VP of basketball operations Ned Cohen are two internal candidates that may receive consideration for the position, and says Kiki VanDeWeghe‘s name has been floated as a possible target too. A former GM, VanDeWeghe currently works in the league office.

Malik Rose, who is said to be receiving interest from the Pistons for their front office opening, is a Philadelphia native, which could make him an appealing target for the Sixers. If the team wants to dip into Houston’s front office again, Gersson Rosas would be a strong candidate. The 76ers’ list of candidates may grow even further, though it’s probably safe to assume that Hinke – the club’s previous hire from the Rockets – won’t be returning to Philadelphia, despite the wishes of many Sixers fans.

What do you think? Which GM candidate would you like to see replace Colangelo in Philadelphia? Which candidate do you believe the Sixers will ultimately hire?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

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Four Teams Who Could Become Taxpayers By Re-Signing Key Free Agents

June 7th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

The Cavaliers, Warriors, and Thunder had the three most expensive rosters in the NBA in 2017/18, finishing the season well over the tax line. While those three clubs don’t currently project to be taxpayers again in 2018/19, that will change quickly if they’re able to re-sign their top free agents.

If LeBron James returns to Cleveland, Kevin Durant re-ups with the Dubs, and Paul George remains in Oklahoma City, all three clubs will blow past the luxury-tax threshold once again, barring separate cost-cutting moves.

For those teams, the possibility of going back into tax territory and continuing to run their repeater-tax clocks probably isn’t particularly appealing. But based on their high payrolls this past season, we know that ownership is willing to pay those penalties to contend, if necessary.

Heading into the 2018 offseason, there are several more clubs who could see their respective team salaries surpass the tax line if they re-sign certain free agents, and it remains to be seen just how comfortable some of those ownership groups are with the idea of becoming taxpayers.

Here are four teams whose team salaries are worth watching as they navigate free agency:

  1. Houston Rockets: With a little less than $78MM in guaranteed salaries on their books for 2018/19 at the moment, the Rockets appear to have some breathing room. However, lucrative new contracts for Clint Capela and Chris Paul would quickly change that equation. If we assume Paul gets a maximum-salary deal and Capela receives a starting salary in the range of $15-20MM, that would mean adding $50-55MM to Houston’s 2018/19 cap, which would put the team over the projected tax line with only eight players under contract. Ditching Ryan Anderson‘s contract would almost certainly be the club’s preferred method of avoiding a massive tax bill, but as we saw last offseason when the Rockets unsuccessfully shopped Anderson in trade talks, that won’t be easy.
  2. New Orleans Pelicans: With seven players on guaranteed contracts worth about $93MM, the Pelicans will get into some financial trouble if they re-sign DeMarcus Cousins to a pricey new contract. Even if we assume Cousins’ Achilles injury will prevent him from landing a max deal, he’s probably a good bet for a starting salary in the neighborhood of $20-25MM. Filling out the rest of the roster with minimum-salary contracts around Cousins and their other seven players would see New Orleans carry a team salary in the $122-127MM range — and that’s a conservative estimate which doesn’t include another important free agent, Rajon Rondo. Solomon Hill ($12.75MM) would be the most logical trade or release candidate if the Pels need to cut costs.
  3. Portland Trail Blazers: A solid but unspectacular season for Jusuf Nurkic should ensure that the Trail Blazers won’t have to pay him near-max money to keep him. Still, Portland is already carrying more than $110MM in guaranteed money for eight players, and Nurkic is probably worth an eight-figure salary. If the Blazers want to bring him back and avoid the tax, it’s possible we’ll see the team try to move one or more highly-paid players like Evan Turner ($17.87MM), Maurice Harkless ($10.84MM), or Meyers Leonard ($10.6MM).
  4. Denver Nuggets: While the Nuggets only have about $85.6MM in guaranteed 2018/19 money on their cap, a pair of player options for Wilson Chandler and Darrell Arthur figure to increase that total to about $105.9MM. Will Barton will also be due a raise, increasing team salary even further if he’s re-signed. But the real killer will be a potential extension for Nikola Jokic. Denver could probably avoid the tax by simply exercising Jokic’s cheap team option for 2018/19, but doing so would put him on track to become an unrestricted free agent in 2019 and wouldn’t sit well with the young center’s camp. Turning down the option, making him a restricted free agent, and locking him up to a mega-deal this offseason might be the Nuggets’ best move, but doing so would likely put the team over the tax line. Chandler ($12.8MM), Arthur ($7.46MM), Kenneth Faried ($13.76MM), and Mason Plumlee ($12.92MM) would become trade or release candidates in that scenario.

The Toronto Raptors deserve an honorable mention on this list, since re-signing Fred VanVleet would create some financial issues for them. However, even if they let VanVleet walk, the Raps will need to find a way to shed some salary in order to avoid becoming a taxpayer. Toronto already has more than $126MM in guaranteed contracts on its 2018/19 books without accounting for VanVleet.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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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.

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Five Key Offseason Questions: Charlotte Hornets

June 6th, 2018 at 3:09pm CST by Luke Adams

After oscillating between lottery appearances and first-round playoff exits during Steve Clifford‘s first four years in Charlotte, the Hornets endured a second consecutive 36-46 season in 2017/18, resulting in Clifford’s ouster. The latest uninspiring stretch for the franchise, which hasn’t won a postseason series since being reborn in 2004, also resulted in the dismissal of general manager Rich Cho.

With Cho and Clifford out, former Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak has taken over the basketball operations department, hiring Spurs assistant James Borrego as the Hornets’ new head coach. Despite the changes in the front office and on the bench, 11 of Charlotte’s 14 players from 2017/18 – including the club’s top nine highest-paid veterans – have guaranteed contracts for next season, creating uncertainty about how much the actual roster will change.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Will the Hornets trade Kemba Walker?

Walker’s name surfaced in a number of rumors prior to the trade deadline, and it wasn’t simply baseless speculation. Hornets owner Michael Jordan confirmed that the club was listening to inquiries on its star point guard, though he cautioned that Charlotte wasn’t shopping Walker and said the price would be high.

The Hornets’ front office has undergone some changes since then, but Jordan will still be the one signing off on roster decisions and he sounds willing to approve a deal if Kupchak decides to go in that direction. Still, moving Walker for a fair return won’t be easy. The former UConn star has just one year left on his current contract, so any team interested in acquiring him would have to be pretty confident that he’d be willing to re-up.

Charlotte also reportedly has somewhat conflicting goals in a Walker trade. Jordan stated that the team would only move its point guard for an All-Star caliber player, but attaching an unwanted contract to Walker also represents the club’s best chance to dump salary. It’s unlikely that the team would be able to simultaneously achieve both goals.

2. How can the Hornets reduce team salary?

In Nicolas Batum ($24MM cap hit for 2018/19), Dwight Howard ($23.82MM), Marvin Williams ($14.09MM), Cody Zeller ($13.53MM), and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ($13MM), the Hornets have five veterans who will earn more than Walker next season, and all of them except for Howard remain under contract for multiple years.

With those five players totaling more than $88MM on next year’s cap and providing modest production, the Hornets are hamstrung when it comes to upgrading their roster. Attaching one or two of those players to Walker in a trade would help Charlotte create a little financial flexibility and kick-start a rebuild, but if Walker isn’t moved, it’s not clear how the team can get out from under any of those contracts without attaching another asset.

If the Hornets simply want to create a little more breathing room below the tax line and cut costs slightly, Jeremy Lamb is probably the most realistic trade candidate. Lamb is entering a contract year and is more affordable ($7.49MM) than many of his teammates. He’s also coming off his best NBA season (12.9 PPG, .370 3PT%), meaning Charlotte could actually ask for a draft pick in a trade involving him, rather than having to surrender one.

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Is Rodney Hood The Answer For Cavs In 2018 NBA Finals?

June 5th, 2018 at 11:23pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Rodney Hood hasn’t played meaningful minutes since early in the postseason, but with the Cavaliers backed against the wall, it appears they’ll make a lineup change, allowing the 25-year-old to see some additional court time.

“We’re going to give Hood a chance,” Tyronn Lue said Tuesday (via Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com). “He’ll get a shot, and see how he does. He’s been working, staying ready. So we’ll see.”

The Cavs acquired Hood mid-season in a three-team trade. In the deal:

  • The Cavs acquired Hood (from Jazz) and George Hill (from Kings) along with the draft rights to Arturas Gudaitis (from Kings).
  • The Jazz acquired Jae Crowder (from Cavs), Derrick Rose (from Cavs), and the right to swap 2024 second-round picks with the Cavs.
  • Kings acquired Iman Shumpert (from Cavs), Joe Johnson (from Jazz), the Heat’s 2020 second-round pick (from Cavs), cash ($2.1MM from Cavs; $1.1MM from Jazz), and the draft rights to Dimitrios Agravanis (from Cavs).

Prior to the trade, Hood was playing well, making 38.9% of his three-pointers on nearly seven attempts per contest in Utah. He was sporting a player efficiency rating of 15.1 and appeared to be on his way to landing a solid second contract in the league, as he’ll be a restricted free agent this summer.

Once he arrived in his Cleveland, his performance took a hit. In 21 regular season games with the Cavs, he made just 35.2% of his shots from behind the arc and sported a player efficiency rating of 12.7. Among Cleveland’s five-man lineups that played at least 30 minutes together this season, none featuring Hood had a positive rating, per NBA.com.

Part of the issue could be fit. Hood has played 64% of his minutes at the three in Cleveland; He spent 63% of his time at the two spot in Utah, per Basketball-Reference’s positional data.

Hood has proven he can’t elevate the team while playing heavy minutes next to the Cavs’ rotation of guards with defensive liabilities, but perhaps Lue plays him alongside one guard, planting him next to LeBron James and a pair of frontcourt players. Maybe that’s enough of an adjustment to make the NBA Finals a competitive series. Or maybe there is no way for the Cavs to come close to beating the Warriors four times over the next five contests.

How many games will the Cavs win in this series? If Hood receives playing time, will it make a difference? What do the next few games mean for the future of Cleveland and Hood’s pending free agency?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to hearing what you have to say!

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Five Key Offseason Questions: Los Angeles Lakers

June 5th, 2018 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Incredibly, prior to their recent playoff drought, the Lakers had never missed the postseason for more than two consecutive years. The current streak is now up to five straight non-playoff seasons. While this stretch of futility is certainly a source of angst for Lakers fans and many in the organization, the team has taken the right approach to roster-building since new president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka took the reins in 2017.

Rather than trying to force their way back into contention by signing non-stars to lucrative free agent contracts, as the franchise did with Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng back in 2016, the current Lakers management group has focused on developing the team’s young players, complementing those prospects with veterans on short-term deals.

The Lakers being the Lakers, it’s only a matter of time before the club once again makes a splash in the free agent market. When that happens though, the team will set it sights on the very best available players, and may not be willing to settle for second- or third-tier options.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. Can the Lakers land a top free agent or two?

It’s no secret that the Lakers will head into the 2018 offseason looking to secure commitments from at least one – and potentially two – of the elite free agents on the market. Kevin Durant and Nikola Jokic are viewed as slam dunks to return to their respective teams, Chris Paul is a virtual lock to re-sign in Houston, and DeMarcus Cousins‘ Achilles recovery clouds his outlook.

That leaves two primary targets for Los Angeles: LeBron James and Paul George. While James would be the dream addition, George appears to be the more realistic one. A Los Angeles native, George has reportedly been thinking about joining the Lakers for some time, and a first-round exit in Oklahoma City this spring didn’t exactly increase the Thunder’s chances of bringing him back.

If the Lakers could strike a deal with George, it would make James’ decision very interesting. LeBron will have a number of appealing options to consider, including possibly going to Houston or Philadelphia, but heading to Hollywood might be the best move for his brand. Adding James and George to a promising young core that includes Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, and Kyle Kuzma would make the Lakers a very attractive destination for role-playing veterans looking to join a contender.

2. What’s Plan B if the Lakers miss out on their primary targets?

While the Lakers could make compelling pitches to George and James, there’s no guarantee that either player will decide to head west. The franchise needs to be prepared to quickly change course if it becomes clear that those top free agents aren’t coming.

Using all their cap room to sign lesser free agents to long-term deals would be a mistake, and one that the Lakers can’t afford to repeat after committing approximately $136MM to Mozgov and Deng in 2016. Johnson and Pelinka recognize that, which is why we’ve heard whispers all year that the Lakers would be happy to preserve their cap flexibility for 2019.

Kawhi Leonard, Klay Thompson, Kyrie Irving, Jimmy Butler, Kemba Walker, and Kevin Love are among the players who can become unrestricted free agents in 2019, so the Lakers could have plenty of options a year from now. For what it’s worth, Leonard, Thompson, and Love were all born in Los Angeles.

While waiting until 2019 to spend big on long-term deals is a viable route for the Lakers, they’ll need to get to the salary floor in 2018/19 somehow. That could mean signing or acquiring more players on one-year contracts, like they did with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Brook Lopez last summer. Exploring trade options makes sense too — someone like Leonard could be available now, a year before he reaches free agency, so the Lakers will want to kick the tires and find out the Spurs’ asking price.

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Poll: Who Will Be Pistons’ Next Head Coach?

June 5th, 2018 at 8:44am CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons haven’t yet installed a new head of basketball operations, but the franchise has a well-respected group of executives and consultants running its search for a new head coach. Newly-hired special advisor Ed Stefanski is leading that search, with former NBA head coaches Bernie Bickerstaff and Jim Lynam reportedly sitting in on interviews and helping out with the process.

The search for a new head coach appears to have led Detroit to three primary candidates, per a Monday report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. According to Woj, the Pistons would like to further discuss the position with former Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, University of Michigan coach John Beilein, and Spurs assistant Ime Udoka.

Casey, a Coach of the Year candidate, was immediately linked to the Pistons after being let go by the Raptors. While his playoff struggles have been well documented, Casey had an excellent regular season track record in Toronto, and was “impressive” in his first interview with the Pistons, a source tells Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. According to Ellis, Casey came prepared with “detailed notes and video clips” and exceeded expectations.

Beilein, meanwhile, has a reputation as a coach who is strong in terms of player development and offensive schemes, Ellis notes. He has been the Wolverines’ head coach since 2007, leading the team to appearances in title games in both 2013 and 2018. Assuming his interest in the Pistons’ job is as real as it appears, Beilein’s résumé local ties make him an intriguing candidate, though his age (65) may work against him.

If the Pistons are seeking a younger coach who could potentially remain on the team’s sidelines for the next decade, the 40-year-old Udoka may be a stronger candidate. While Udoka has no head coaching experience, he has interviewed for multiple openings this spring, and comes from one of the best pipelines for future NBA coaches. His fellow Spurs assistant James Borrego was hired by the Hornets last month, while many former Gregg Popovich assistants – including Brett Brown and Mike Budenholzer – currently hold jobs around the NBA.

What do you think? Will one of these three candidates end up with the Pistons’ head coaching job, or will another candidate emerge and ultimately claim the job? If it ends up being Casey, Beilein, or Udoka, which coach will be the Pistons’ pick?

Vote in our poll, then jump into the comment section to weigh in on Detroit’s head coaching search.

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

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