The Pelicans are hiring former Pistons general manager Troy Weaver, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape, who reports (via Twitter) that Weaver will be named the senior vice president in New Orleans’ basketball operations department under new executive VP Joe Dumars.
In a full story on ESPN.com, Spears says Weaver will also hold the title of Pelicans general manager.
Weaver spent more than a decade in the Thunder’s front office before being hired by the Pistons as their general manager in 2020. He oversaw the rebuilding project in Detroit for four years, but was removed from his position last spring after the team posted a franchise-worst 14-68 record in 2023/24.
As poor as the Pistons’ record was during Weaver’s tenure, he perhaps deserves partial credit for the team’s renaissance this season, which was led by a handful of his draft picks, including star point guard Cade Cunningham, center Jalen Duren, and swingman Ausar Thompson.
Following his exit from Detroit, Weaver joined the Wizards last summer as a senior advisor. He’ll be leaving that role to join the Pelicans’ front office, says Spears.
Although both Dumars and Weaver are former heads of basketball operations in Detroit, their stints with the club didn’t overlap at all. Dumars led the Pistons’ front office from 2010-14, departing the organization while Weaver was still in Oklahoma City.
Going from the wizards to the pelicans is a latteral move from awful to awful.
Pels going from Griffin and Langdon to Dumars and Weaver is an even worse move from poor to absolutely gawd awful.
Griffin is a great judge of talent. He can not make players stay healthy. He will be back on the league.
goodness gracious they’re really gonna burn the pels down.
Troy “uhhhh” Weaver
Joe Dumars was the head of the Pistons front office from 2000-2014 constructing the team that won the 2004 Championship and 6 straight conference finals appearances.
“As poor as the Pistons’ record was during Weaver’s tenure, he perhaps deserves partial credit for the team’s renaissance this season, which was led by a handful of his draft picks, including star point guard Cade Cunningham, center Jalen Duren, and swingman Ausar Thompson.”
I’m sorry but the GM doesn’t get credit for having the #1 OVR pick (especially since Evan Mobley was probably the better pick). He also drafted Killian Hayes 7th the year before, when Haliburton was the extremely obvious pick.
Evan Mobley is not the better pick I’m sorry
Evan Mobley
Age 20: 2nd in ROY, 44 Wins (22-win improvement), 8th seed, lost Play-In
Age 21: All-Defense 1st Team, 3rd in DPOY, 51 Wins, 4th Seed, Lost 1st Round
Age 22: Missed 32 games, 48 Wins, 4th Seed, Lost 2nd Round
Age 23: All-Star, Top 3 again in DPOY (Possible winner), All-Defense 1st Team, Probable All-NBA 2nd Team, best player on a 64-win team, likely Conference Finals
TOTAL: 1x All-NBA, 2x All-Defense, 1x All-Star, 207-121 Season Record (63.1%), 1-2 Playoff Series Record excluding this season
Cade Cunningham
Age 20: 3rd in ROY, 23 Wins (+3 Improvement)
Age 21: Missed 70 games, 17 Wins
Age 22: 14 Wins
Age 23: All-Star, Probable All-NBA 2nd/3rd, 44 Wins, 6th Seed
TOTAL: 1x All-NBA, 1x All-Star, 98-230 Season Record (29.8%), Just made Playoffs for first time
Mobley had an immediate impact on winning (due to his elite defense). Cade did not. Sorry, this season doesn’t erase the horror show of the last 3 years.
Mobley also has had an excellent roster around him compared to the Piston roster over the last three years. Mitchell is a superstar, and Garland and the Fro are all-stars. I’m not saying Evan isn’t a good player, but I believe Cade is better. If you swap the players, Cleveland would still be excellent, and Detroit wouldn’t be a 44-win team.
This is correct. 30 out of 30 GMs would want to start their franchise with Cade