Shaun Powell of SportsOnEarth.com says that it’s a given Pistons GM Joe Dumars will be let go after the season, but Powell thinks it will take a lot of luck and skill in the draft, free agency, and coaching hunt for Detroit to turn around years of Dumars’ poor decision-making. Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- Pistons forward Jonas Jerebko has hired Bill Duffy of the BDA Sports agency to represent him, according to Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal (Twitter link). Jerebko is weighing whether to pick up his $4.5MM player option for next season.
- With Kyle Lowry dealing with a sore left knee, the Raptors‘ deadline trade for Nando De Colo is looking far more meaningful, given the team’s dearth of experienced point guards behind Lowry and Greivis Vasquez, writes Doug Smith of the Toronto Star.
- Michael Carter-Williams has turned a lot of heads this season, and Sixers coach Brett Brown told reporters including Tom Moore of Calkins Media that his first-year point guard has played well enough to earn the Rookie of the Year Award. “You can talk about he’s playing on a bad team and getting lots of minutes — and that is all true,” Brown said. “But I see him getting better because he’s understanding the NBA better. He’s starting to get greedy and understand the opportunity and responsibility he has to help grow this program. I think he deserves those awards.”
- Brown also told reporters, including Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer, that he’s now “ambivalent” about whether Sixers rookie Nerlens Noel plays this year (Twitter link).
- Pacers power forward Luis Scola will play for Argentina in the FIBA World Cup this summer, he tells El Universal (translation via Emiliano Carchia of Sportando).
Chuck Myron contributed to this post.