By Jordan Long
The Detroit Pistons hired their new head coach. The job had been open since they fired Stan Van Gundy on May 7th. Van Gundy was in Detroit for 4 seasons with an unimpressive 152-176 record and only one trip to the playoffs. The Pistons went a different direction and hired Dwane Casey.
Casey was the top head coach without an NBA job after the Raptors fired him following the season. He was in Toronto the past 7 years with an impressive 320-238 record. The Raptors made the postseason 5 times including the best record in the East this season. Casey always coached them to the playoffs but that also cost him his job. They never made the Eastern Conference Finals or the NBA Finals under him.
The Pistons are lucky Casey was still available. The Pistons knew if they weren’t going to hire him another team would. Casey agreed to a 5-year contract.
Casey will have a chance to coach this team to the playoffs. They are a talented team who includes Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond, and Reggie Jackson, all are veterans in the NBA. This is going to make Casey’s life easier.
Detroit is hoping Casey is the right man for the job. They want to be a playoff team year in and year out. Their playoff history hasn’t been bright. In the last 9 years, the Pistons made 1 playoff appearance, 2016. It ended in a 4 game sweep by the Cleveland Cavaliers. The last time Detroit made it past the first-round was in 2008 when they lost in 6 games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Casey knows how tough it is to make the playoffs as a head coach. He will make sure the Pistons are playing team basketball. They should improve from 39 wins last season. For this to be a success Casey has to make it to the Eastern Conference or NBA Finals in the next 5 years. If not, it was a wasted hire.
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