Report: Warriors expect Stan Van Gundy to sign with Pistons

Things were looking up for the Golden State Warriors 24 hours ago. After firing Mark Jackson, it looked like a lock to land Stan Van Gundy, one whom many considered the best candidate in the open market. But a twist in the situation has the Golden State Warriors executives aware that their prize fish may be signing with the Detroit Pistons:

"Golden State officials met with Van Gundy on Monday in Florida and left convinced he was leaning strongly toward the offer of total control in Detroit. Golden State isn’t willing to make an allowance for Van Gundy to have final say on player personnel. The Warriors would make him one of the higher paid coaches in the NBA, but Detroit owner Tom Gores is willing to do “whatever it takes,” one source said, to recruit Van Gundy.via Sources: Pistons nearing deal to hire Stan Van Gundy as coach, president | Yahoo! Sports"

Losing on Van Gundy is a huge miss by the Warriors, but it’s understandable that Joe Lacob wasn’t willing to relinquish power to Van Gundy. That’s the act of a desperate team a la the Los Angeles Clippers and Doc Rivers or currently with the Detroit Pistons and Stan Van Gundy. Front office power or not, Van Gundy would’ve had a hand in personnel decisions. It’s uncommon that coaches that have a hand in who or who doesn’t play for a team as they’re the architect behind how a team plays and they know who fits the offense the best.

Now the Warriors have have to settle for a head coach that’s far below Van Gundy’s talent. So far names such as Mike D’Antoni and Lionel Hollins have popped up and as the search continues many more will. You have to wonder if they’ll begin to regret the Mark Jackson firing if they fail to land a clear upgrade going forward.