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5 steps to help revitalize the Detroit Pistons

By Rucker Haringey

DETROIT, MI - MARCH 26: Stanley Johnson #7 and Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 26, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - MARCH 26: Stanley Johnson #7 and Blake Griffin #23 of the Detroit Pistons during the game against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 26, 2018 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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It’s time for the Detroit Piston to pivot towards the future. Here’s how they can start doing that.

Now that the Stan Van Gundy era has met its end in Detroit, it’s time for the Pistons to start making moves for the future. The truth is Van Gundy is an excellent coach, but a pretty bad front office executive. It’s going to take some big moves to shake things up in Motown.

Unfortunately for Pistons fans, Van Gundy doesn’t leave a clean slate behind him. The organization will still have to deal with the fallout from his personnel decisions for years to come. To put it quite simply, the team doesn’t have a ton of financial flexibility.

That doesn’t mean things are hopeless in Detroit. They’re just complex. The franchise just has a smaller margin for error than most of their NBA competitors. The Pistons need to start making right moves immediately. They can start by hitting on these five key decisions.

5. Hire an actual general manager

No NBA team should allow their head coach to be their general manager as well. This practice simply doesn’t work. See the cases of Doc Rivers, Mike Budenholzer and Stan Van Gundy for recent examples.

That means the Pistons need to be very intentional about selecting a strong executives to lead their basketball operations. All indications from Detroit seem to indicate Arn Tellem will, at the very least, play a lead role in the process.

As long as the new GM isn’t also the head coach it will indicate concrete progress for the Pistons. In the end, they need to hire someone who can embrace, at the very least, a mini rebuild in Detroit. Ownership coming to grips with that reality and hiring a progressive GM is the first step towards the Pistons return to relevancy.

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