With Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars’ announcement that he was “stepping aside”, the speculation as to who would take over his post began. The team intends to conduct a comprehensive search for their next GM, report Jeff Zillgitt and Sam Amick of USA Today. According to the article, there are several names are on the Pistons’ radar.
The latest names to be mentioned in connection with Detroit are Cavaliers acting general manager David Griffin, Celtics assistant GM and team counsel Mike Zarren and NBA senior vice president of basketball operations Kiki Vandeweghe.
Other names connected with the search per the article, are Magic assistant GM Scott Perry, who is from Detroit and used to work for the team, Warriors assistant GM Travis Schlenk, and former Raptors GM Bryan Colangelo.
It was also reported earlier this week that Grant Hill, a former Pistons player who is now working for Turner Sports, is also a possibility for the post. The Pistons may also look into an arrangement similar to the one Doc Rivers has with the Clippers, the article notes. Rivers is both coach and senior vice president of basketball operations and works with vice president of basketball operations Gary Sacks on personnel decisions.
The other wild card here could be former Pistons great Isiah Thomas, who was reported to be openly campaigning for the job, despite the team shooting down those rumors. There has also been talk that the team may want to hire Chauncey Billups for the front-office, but the exact role hasn’t been revealed.
Currently Pistons director of basketball operations Ken Catanella and assistant GM David George are preparing for the draft and free agency. They report to ownership executives Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, both of whom are partners is Gores’ private equity investment firm, Platinum Equity, write Zillgitt and Amick.