The Pistons have the worst record in the NBA but it doesn’t seem as if owner Tom Gores is looking to make any changes to the coaching staff and front office.
Gores is happy with head coach Dwane Casey and GM Troy Weaver and believes the young core Weaver has built will eventually revitalize the franchise, as he told Mike Curtis of the Detroit News.
“We’re growing,” Gores said. “Right now, we have an amazing core group and a lot of confidence. We’re better than our record is. We’re much better than that and I like the way that this team has a lot of heart. I feel great about it. Dwane’s doing good work. Troy continues to think about growth and everything, so I feel great about it.”
Weaver has drafted six players in the first round in three years, including last year’s top overall selection, Cade Cunningham, who is sidelined with a shin injury that may require surgery. Both of the team’s lottery picks this June, point guard Jaden Ivey and center Jalen Duren, have displayed high promise in the first 18 games but the Pistons have only three wins to show for it.
The Pistons are also currently missing two other players, Saddiq Bey and Isaiah Stewart, both of whom were selected during the first draft with Weaver in charge in 2020. Gores sees a silver lining, as other players get opportunities.
“What’s great is, it’s the next man up,” he said. “Everybody has to do their job. We’re a team, and injuries are a part of the game, so we have to know how to deal with that. Good luck, bad luck, we’ve got to make our luck.”
Gores is especially pleased with the addition of Bojan Bogdanovic, who recently signed a two-year extension. He leads the team in scoring (20.5 points per game) and gives the lineup a veteran presence.
“We’re lucky to have Bojan,” Gores told The News. “I’ll tell you what, he’s a tremendous veteran along with Alec Burks, as well. I think we’re very fortunate. We would be a different team without those veterans. The thing is, veterans bring a lot of experience, but both these guys can play, too. You can’t teach the young men unless you can play, also.”
Pistons have best young talent in NBA.
Bagley Jr – 23 yrs old
Bey. – 23 yrs ol
H Diallo – 24 yrs old
Stewart – 21 yrs old
Livers – 24 yrs old
Hayes – 21 yrs old
Cunningham – 21 yrs old
Duren – 19 yrs old
Ivey – 20 yrs old
Dwane Casey needs to GO. He has always been an overrated coach even in Toronto.
Worst owner ever
Why? Opens the checkbook when needed and let’s the people he hired do their job. Weaver is building a solid club
In all of these judgments about the ineptitude of GMs and the penny-pinching owners, the thought never seems to occur that some teams are just more talented than others.
If the FO under Weaver sold the owner on tanking, then the owner should be optimistic. If, on the other hand, the FO was tasked with building a team, then there’s little reason for it, as the FO has proven inept at it.
The FO and HC are in Year 3, and the team still isn’t functional on the court, nor is there hint of a team identity or culture. It takes no ability to lose and get high draft picks, nor does it take any to make obvious picks in those slots. It allows you to accumulate young talent, but that’s only a part of team building. The easy part (since incompetence works as well as a plan). The other elements of team building are hard and take ability. Seen very little of it from this FO or HC.