After the end of a second consecutive season with the worst record in the NBA, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said he would hire a new head of basketball operations — someone who reports directly to him and would oversee head coach Monty Williams and GM Troy Weaver.
How has that been? Here’s an update:
• The first target for the job was Bucks president Jon Horst, but Milwaukee denied Detroit’s request to speak with him, according to multiple reports.
• Former Trail Blazers and Clippers GM Neil Olshey declined to be interviewed, reports Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.
• What’s holding up the process now is that the Pistons would like to talk to Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves, the man who built the Nuggets and then left to build the Timberwolves they will face in the Western Conference semifinals, reports James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania of The Athletic. Connelly has an opt-out in his contract at the end of this season, but the Timberwolves’ season is still ongoing and he’s focused on that.
• Minnesota unquestionably wants to keep Connelly, so why would he abandon a contending roster he built? Money. The Athletic suggests that if Gores offered Connelly $15 million per season, he would have to consider it.
• If not Connelly — and he will likely remain in Minnesota — other names being considered include New Orleans’ Trajan Langdon, Dallas’ Dennis Lindsey and Chicago’s Marc Eversley.
• “What will be the power structure?” When NBC Sports spoke with an executive from another team early in the Pistons process, the question was: Would this new person be at the top of the pecking order, or would he just be adding to a confusing power structure? Who really wields the hammer? Apparently the new person will have the power to fire GM Weaver and make other changes, Jake Fischer reports for Yahoo Sports. Let’s assume the changes the new president might make don’t include a coaching change, considering how much Gores paid Monty Williams.
• Whoever accepts the position will help the Pistons get picked 5th in this June’s NBA Draft — For the second year in a row, the Pistons had the worst record in the NBA and still fell to fifth place in the lottery.
