9:35pm: Spurs assistant Ime Udoka also remains on the short list and the Pistons are making plans to advance the three candidates to meet with owner Tom Gores, according to Wojnarowski.
6:04pm: The Pistons would like to have additional conversations with former Raptors coach Dwane Casey and current Michigan coach John Beilein regarding their head coaching job, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Both coaches have already met with Detroit’s front office, Wojnarowski adds.
This suggests that the duo may be emerging as the top candidates for the position, despite their very different resumes. Casey was named NBA Coach of the Year by the National Basketball Coaches Association after guiding the Raptors to the Eastern Conference’s best record, then was abruptly fired after Toronto was swept by the Cavaliers during the conference semifinals.
Casey, who had coached the Raptors since 2011, was the winningest coach in team history, leading the club to a 373-307 (.549) regular season record. He had one year left on his contract with Toronto, worth $6MM.
Beilein has been a long-time college coach and led the Wolverines to the NCAA title game before they fell to heavily favored Villanova. Beilein has compiled a 248-143 record in 11 years at Michigan, including two trips to the Final Four.
Newly hired special advisor Ed Stefanski said that hiring a new head coach was a priority over hiring another front office executive. Stan Van Gundy held the positions of head coach and president of basketball operations before he was fired last month. GM Jeff Bower was let go last week.
Former Bucks coach Jason Kidd, Spurs assistants Becky Hammon and Ime Udoka, Heat assistant Juwan Howard, and TNT broadcaster Kenny Smith have also been connected to the position.
Casey has to be the hire
Do not steal Beilein from UofM!
Let’s hope Detroit gets it right, doubtful, because for guys like Blake & Drummond, cannot be easy to live there, at least winning makes it better. They are real stars deserve better than ending without playoffs. By the way I am not gonna say any more about Casey or other candidates for the HC post, as I am most certainly not a troll. Just expressing my opinion, just like to see what new guys bring instead of keep on hiring always mediocre guys, that keep on getting fired, but keep on getting jobs, cannot understand that, but anyway, good luck with hiring a coach, just hope is the right one for the 2 big guys.