Central Notes: Pistons, Pacers, Bucks

The Pistons‘ 2013/14 season begins against the Wizards tonight in Detroit, and owner Tom Gores tells Bob Wojnowski of the Detroit News that he’ll be hugely disappointed if the team doesn’t make the playoffs after its offseason upgrades.

“We took a philosophy, Joe [Dumars] and I, to win now without sacrificing the future,” Gores said of the Pistons’ aggressive summer. “I really think we accomplished that. Obviously the business is very tricky, but we had to create an urgency. The fans need it, the Pistons need it.”

Here’s more from Gores and from the rest of the Central Division:

  • Asked about Dumars’ contract situation, Gores suggested that even though the Pistons GM is in the final year of his contract, Dumars isn’t on the hot seat. “Joe and I collaborated on these moves, we talk every other day,” Gores said. “He’s done everything we’ve asked, and his basketball organization is really solid…. I don’t think I could’ve asked for more this summer.”
  • David West never seemed likely to head elsewhere in free agency before he re-upped with the Pacers this summer, and West is confident the team’s new additions will help the team toward the championship, HoopsWorld’s Yannis Koutroupis writes.
  • Luis Scola doesn’t feel like he’s close to retirement, and intends to play at least the remaining two years on his contract, but acknowledged to Lang Greene of HoopsWorld that he’s not sure how quickly his view could change. For now, he agrees with West that the Pacers could be on the cusp of something special, and hopes that he can be the team’s missing piece.
  • Noting that plenty is on the line in Milwaukee over the next few years, as owner Herb Kohl attempts to generate support for a new downtown arena, Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel focuses on the Bucks‘ long-term basketball plan of surrounding promising young players with solid veterans.

Chuck Myron contributed to this post.

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