With one year remaining on his contract, Dwane Casey isn’t a lock to return as the Pistons’ coach next season. One of the early steps in making that decision took place when Casey met with members of the team’s ownership after Wednesday’s game, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.
“We talked about how we’re going to look at everything and meet again after we’re all done and see which way we all want to go as far as the organization,” Casey said. “There’s nothing that’s been decided as far as that’s concerned.”
Casey joined the Pistons in 2018 shortly after being fired by the Raptors despite winning Coach of the Year honors. He inherited a playoff-level team built around Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson and went 41-41 in his first season.
The Pistons eventually shifted to rebuilding mode, and when Troy Weaver was hired as general manager in 2020, he viewed Casey as the best coach to develop young talent. Casey was rewarded with an extension that runs through the end of next season.
According to Sankofa, Casey has enjoyed a full vote of confidence from the Pistons’ decision makers, including owner Tom Gores and senior advisor Arn Tellem as well as Weaver. That has enabled him to become the league’s sixth longest-tenured head coach despite a 120-262 record.
Coming off a promising year centered around No. 1 pick Cade Cunningham, Detroit entered this season with hopes of contending for a play-in spot. But Cunningham played just 12 games before undergoing season-ending shin surgery in December, and the Pistons have gone through another year of losing with a young roster. At 16-64, they have clinched the worst record in the NBA and are in danger of setting a franchise mark for the most losses in a season.
Despite the frustrations, hope remains for a quick turnaround next season. Whether Casey will be part of that next step is a decision that will be made this summer.
“I’m here,” Casey told reporters when asked about his status. “I’m under contract for another year. I committed to Tom that we were winning 60 games when I left (Toronto), and now we’re losing 60 games, but I committed to him to come in and turn around the organization. We are where we are right now. I know it seems like it’s forever away, but we’re not that far away. This team is not that far away.”
“They blew my shins off!”
Casey does what he can with a very young Pistons team. It takes time…
Casey is a very good coach and a class act. He’s the perfect guy to lay down the foundation for an organization and has done a tremendous job in both Toronto and now Detroit. I hope he gets an opportunity to continue building these kids up.
I don’t know how they can endure another year with him at the helm.
When teams win it’s the players. When they lose it’s the coach. Some how I. The A. silver regime, management is never a factor. Hmmm…..
Tell that to Westbrook, Simmons, Kyrie, etc.
Well it’s hard to evaluate Casey’s performance because you can’t just tie it to wins and losses.
Since his job here is more about player development, I’d say he’s had a positive impact on a lot of the youngsters. The Pistons need to become more efficient on offense and they also need to make more of an effort on the defensive end, or at least show progress there. Those are things young players typically struggle with.
So why am I saying that Casey has had a positive impact? Just look at the team’s overall attitude and the general mood of the players. Losing this many games has to take its toll, but you wouldn’t know it from the way these guys speak positively about learning little things on a game by game basis. Casey himself has to trot out to talk to the media after each game and he doesn’t sound defeated. He sounds hopeful. Let him finish out his contract.
Dwane Casey is a great coach whose best asset is developing players. He did that with Toronto and got a raw deal by firing him when their rebuild was done and they won a championship the next year. That was of course after trading for Kwhai Leonard. He’s going to be 66 in a few days so who knows how much longer he wants to coach? But he’s committed to the team and ownership let him see it through and maybe give him a role upstairs after next year.
How is he a great coach!??! If the Tigers go 120-262 would we be talking bout how great AJ Hinch is doing? Hell no! It’s not just that we are losing, we are not getting any better after having him around these past 5 years. Young teams will struggle, I get that. But you HAVE to atleast progress and we’re getting worse every year not better!