With the news that the Detroit Pistons have hired Dwane Casey, here’s a look at the advantages Motown’s new head coach brings to the table. After four years of mediocre basketball and underachievement, the Detroit Pistons decided to part ways with Stan Van Gundy. There were obvious reasons for the firing, such as Van Gundy’s 152-176 regular season record. He had one playoff appearance in 2015-16, which resulted in a 4-0 sweep to the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, I believe the main reason for Van Gundy’s firing was his inability to develop talent. Enter Dwane Casey, whom the Pistons signed to a five-year deal. Casey is a front-runner for NBA Coach of the Year, and is the current NBCA Coach of the Year. He was fired from his head coaching position with the Toronto Raptors on May 11, in a decision team president Masai Ujiri told reporters was “the hardest thing I’ve done in my life.” A popular coach among his players, Casey is the ideal head coach for this Pistons roster. He possesses the ability to transform seemingly average players into All-Stars. Point guard Kyle Lowry was warming the bench in Memphis from 2006-09. He had limited success afterwards in his four seasons with the Houston Rockets. He joined the Raptors in 2012, and after two years under Casey’s tutelage, he became a four-time All-Star. DeMar DeRozan is another player who blossomed under Casey’s leadership. The Raptors’ first round draft pick in 2009 averaged 12.9 points and 1.3 assists per game during his first two NBA seasons. After Dwane Casey joined the Raptors for the 2011-12 season, DeRozan has averaged 21.6 points and 3.6 assists per game. As a result, DeRozan joined Lowry in becoming a four-time All-Star. Dwane Casey also has a proven track record of success in the NBA. In his seven seasons in Toronto, Casey had a record of 320-238. He transformed the previously struggling Raptors into an Eastern Conference powerhouse, leading them to five straight playoff appearances. He led the Raptors to the 2016 Eastern Conference Finals as well. His success in Toronto is largely due to his ability to get his players to defend. During his first two seasons in Toronto, the team was near the bottom of the league defensively. However, during the past three seasons, Toronto has finished no worse than 11th defensively and were No. 5 in 2017-18. For those that believe Dwane Casey’s success in Toronto was only because of a talented roster, there’s evidence that suggests otherwise. According to ESPN, Toronto exceeded its preseason Real Plus-Minus (RPM) projection in six of seven seasons under Casey. They exceeded the projection by 10 wins twice, including this past season. Clearly Casey has the ability to push his players to achieve their maximum potential. In Detroit, Casey inherits an All-Star in Blake Griffin to build around. He will also be able to work to improve the defensive skills of Andre Drummond. He could turn guard Reggie Jackson into an All-Star like he did with Lowry and DeRozan. The addition of Casey’s leadership and talent development skills will turn the Pistons into a playoff team in 2018-19. A couple of years under his advisement, and some added pieces along the way, the Pistons could once again become championship contenders.<doc-sep>If you’re a fan of Dwane Casey it appears the Detroit Pistons were fortunate that LeBron James stood in the Toronto Raptors way yet again in the playoffs as that summary dismissal from the post season drove Casey’s firing and allowed his hiring by Tom Gores. If we’re lucky we can chalk up the Raps post season woes more to a massive case of DeRozan/Lowry being owned by Le B ron jitters than to a lack of guidance from Casey. Only time will tell. If nothing else after cases of spellcheck players (see Afflalo, Gbinije) we finally have a spellcheck coach. ________________________ As usual in this feature we asked our staff three questions, this time about the Casey hiring. Dig in and be sure to chime in with your own views in the comments below. 1. Dwane Casey....where does his hire rate on your scale from 1-10? Ben Gulker: 7.5. Casey is a proven coach and probably the best hire available at this point. Sean Wheeler: 8/10. Casey is the best they could do without taking a chance on the next Brad Stevens, which would be a big risk. And look, when you can hire the reigning NBA Coach of the Year, it’s pretty hard to argue with that. Ryan Pravato: 7.5/10. Could be a lot worse. He has an impressive resume as far as regular season is concerned. Casey will have his work cut out for him with the present roster, but will likely not be a dud. This is fine for right now as long as the organization doesn’t CONTINUE MORTGAGING THE FUTURE FOR POTENTIAL SMALL GAINS IN THE SHORT-TERM. Jordan Bellant: I give it a 7. I think he’s a good coach and has done a nice job developing players. I give his staff some credit as well but the dude can coach. It’s not flashy and I don’t think he’s a championship-level coach. But it’s also not a championship-level roster. Jacob Kuyvenhoven: 8/10. I like this hire. The Pistons’ best move is to see what is possible with the current core while trying to develop young guys and acquire assets along the margins when possible. Casey fits well with that vision. Not a franchise saver, but that’s fine, he’s a coach. David Fernandez: Giving this a solid 8/10. Casey showed an ability to take a team from utter obscurity to the national stage. I’m hopeful he’ll be able to take the Pistons from their middling existence, to playoff mainstays, for years to come. Lazarus Jackson: 7 out of 10, but there were no perfect 10’s (Popovich, Stevens, Spolestra) available. Casey will, at the absolute least, maintain the level of success (should I put that in air quotes for the #DoomSquad?) that Stan Van Gundy had in Detroit, and will hopefully improve on it in the form of more than one playoff appearance. Justin Lambregtse: 5, I don’t hate it, but I also done love it. It’s just kind of meh to me. Steve Hinson: 8. He was probably the best candidate from the start and the Pistons were pretty lucky to land him, considering the convoluted nature of how Tom Gores has handled the firing/hiring process. 2. If you could predict based on his coaching acumen one major positive shift from the SVG days what would it be? Ben Gulker: I hope it means an improved offense. Casey has experience getting a lot out of his player’s offensive abilities over the course of an entire season - something SVG never achieved in Detroit - including getting production out of traditional bigs in a small NBA. Even a middle-of-the-road offense coupled with the defense of the past several season would be a significant improvement. Sean Wheeler: Player development. Hard to tell how much of that is coach vs player, but it’s a common knock on SVG that he doesn’t do the best job of coaching up the young guys. The team’s ceiling would be much higher if Stanley can take it to the next level. Maybe Casey can do a better job than SVG of getting the most out of him. Ryan Pravato: Player development. DeRozan and Lowry grew as players under Casey’s direction/tutelage/whatever you want to call it. Other Raptors players did too - like Poeltl, Van Vleet, Wright, and perhaps Valanciunas in some ways. Jordan Bellant: Better use of the rotation! Jacob Kuyvenhoven: One noticeable change hasn’t been mentioned yet is Casey is much more of a players’ coach than SVG. Their two strategic philosophies aren’t likely that different, but I can think of a few Pistons that have been in and out of SVG’s doghouse that are likely to play better under Casey. The track record of developing and playing young guys is nice, too (and most importantly, Casey not being the President of Basketball Operations). David Fernandez: An ability to embrace youth and not be too stubborn with his roster. He made a move from Powell when Toronto was getting solid contributions from OG and FVV. We saw SVG start Jon Leuer over Tobias Harris for 35+ games a couple seasons ago... Lazarus Jackson: I think the players will be happier. Stan was fair, but could be brusque and loud, which works for some players and doesn’t for others. The book on Casey is that he is quieter, but still demands execution and focus. After three-ish years of SVG (for most guys - Andre is the only guy left from when SVG took over four years ago), I think that will be a welcomed change. Justin Lambregtse: Less yelling? That’s the issue that I have with this hiring, I don’t think I he is all that different from SVG. Both are old school, defensive-minded coaches who are kind of stubborn and resistant to change. Steve Hinson: I have to give a shout out to MrHappyMushroom here. Initially I was pretty meh about the change, that it was pretty much just rotating chairs. But he pushed back and touted player development - and once I started to look more critically about Casey’s tenure in Toronto, MFMHM is right. Casey had a tendency to get the best out of his players. From top to bottom, guys like Kyle Lowry, Jonas Valanciunas, OG Anunoby, Serge Ibaka, Jakob Poeltl, or Delon Wright, these guys are all producing about as well as you could hope for. Meanwhile, Andre Drummond, Stanley Johnson, Avery Bradley, and Jon Leuer...definitely haven’t. It’s always tough to parse out credit on these fronts between player and coach, but the results between the two tenures were definitely clear. Hopefully Casey can have the same success in Detroit. 3. Do you think that part of his hire was an understanding that he would try to make the current “big three” work or do you see changes possible before the start of next season? Ben Gulker: I’m not sure any of the “big 3” go anywhere immediately, but I continue to think the dark horse trade candidate is Drummond long term. If the goal is to win based around Griffin - and I think it is - I’m not sure how you flesh out the roster with Drummond’s max on the books. Sean Wheeler: Given his statement on ESPN, he sees their big three in a positive light. It’s very unlikely any of those guys will be traded prior to the start of the season, so I think he understands that’s what he’s signing up for. Ryan Pravato: I know Daniels is joking with the big three thing*, but still. This team doesn’t have a big three... but if it did, Luke Kennard should be included and not Jackson. I’m excited (timidly) for what Casey could accomplish with this roster as currently constructed. Can he win a series? That’s a fun question all of a sudden. Suffice to say with Van Gundy in power this team wasn’t anywhere close to winning a series. Now? It’s a better possibility, provided Casey and his assistants can get better focus and consistent effort out of guys like Drummond and Jackson. Oh, also. Hope Casey made a mental note to pick up LeBron James full-court next time and make it difficult on him. Not very impressed with Casey’s coaching in big yet simple moments. (*Writer’s note: There’s a reason it’s in quotation marks ;) Jordan Bellant: His hire sends a message that we’re trying to make the current situation work. It makes sense given the cap situation. This is our team for the next two seasons. I think Casey gives us a shot to be a playoff team. Jacob Kuyvenhoven: The party line seems to be this group didn’t really have a full chance to see what they could do last year, and that’s a fair point. So I wouldn’t expect the Pistons to do much this summer. Although that’s hard to say confidently when there is not currently a General Manager. This team, man. David Fernandez: I’m not sure about the “big three” staying in tact, but I do believe this was a win-now move. Casey isn’t here for a rebuild, and has already stated that this team is focused around Griffin. I am hopeful that Andre Drummond remains a Piston, and this team figures out its spacing. Lazarus Jackson: I think that there was a understanding to at least see what the grouping of Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin, and Andre Drummond is capable of, and go from there. The Pistons still have no General Manager (yes, they’re helmed by Ed Stefanski, but still), so I wouldn’t expect changes to occur on the roster until that is taken care of. And even then, the Pistons have until the trade deadline to see how the players perform for and under Casey. Justin Lambregtse: I think the reasoning behind this hiring is that he is the biggest name on the market and a veteran coach who is more of a “win-now” coach. Tom Gores loves him some big names. Steve Hinson: No, I don’t Casey would have taken the job with a mandate like that. In his early years with the Raptors, he was saddled with Rudy Gay by Bryan Colangelo (or was it Bryan Colangelo’s wife?). It was only after Masai Ujiri was willing to trade the talented franchise cornerstone away for an underwhelming package that the team finally gelled and made the playoffs. Casey has seen what happens when a team values productive contributions over talent that doesn’t contribute to wins. If a talented member of the team’s three core players isn’t willing to do what’s necessary to contribute to a winning environment (stares directly at Andre Drummond), I think Casey brings the credibility to force a trade. _____________________________________ Those are our thoughts? How about yours? Please copy/paste the questions and shoot us your answers below. 1. Dwane Casey....where does his hire rate on your scale from 1-10? 2. If you could predict based on his coaching acumen one major positive shift from the SVG days what would it be? 3. Do you think that part of his hire was an understanding that he would try to make the current “big three” work or do you see changes possible before the start of next season?<doc-sep>
Dwane Casey had two options: Relax for a year with family, collect $6.5 million for doing nothing and wait to rejoin the coaching fray. Or jump at the opportunity to coach a roster he hopes is geared to win immediately — and start to soothe the pain after his abrupt firing nearly a month ago. Casey, 61, picked Option No. 2, and the Detroit Pistons franchise is ecstatic to hire the man voted coach of the year by his peers this season. The Pistons hired the former Toronto Raptors coach Monday afternoon. The contract is a five-year deal averaging $7 million per season with the opportunity for incentives, a source with firsthand knowledge of the process told the Free Press. The deal is similar to the five-year, $35-million deal the Pistons reached with Stan Van Gundy in 2014. An introductory news conference is not expected until next week. Casey plans to meet with players immediately in Los Angeles, where many of them have been training. Casey will relax over the weekend to celebrate Father's Day — he is married with two children — and then will head to the Detroit area. “I am excited and honored to join the Detroit Pistons, a franchise with a championship history and a roster that is ready to win now,” Casey said in a news release. “(Pistons owner Tom Gores) really won me over with his vision for the team and the city. He clearly wants to deliver for the fans in Detroit and I believe in the strength of his leadership to do so. “I’m confident that this team has the pieces in place to compete at a very high level. There is a lot of talent, a solid core and some exciting young players eager to get better. We’re getting to work right away on the things that will make us all successful.” The Pistons are turning to Casey to reverse the fortunes of a franchise that hasn’t won a playoff game since 2008. Gores fired Van Gundy on May 7, almost four weeks after the Pistons ended the regular season with a 39-43 record. Van Gundy, who was team president and coach, missed the playoffs three out of his four seasons, including the past two. “Dwane is one of the most successful and highly respected coaches in our league,” Gores said in the news release. “He’s a great communicator and a leader who will connect with our players and accelerate their growth. Having spent many hours with Dwane over the last few weeks, I’m confident he is the right person to get us to the next level. “In our meetings he displayed great insight into what this roster can accomplish, and great passion about our city and the team’s role in bringing people together. He’s an outstanding man with impressive character. He embodies our culture and will be a great representative for our franchise.” More Pistons news: What we'll remember from the Stan Van Gundy era Pistons new regime inheriting 'special' roster, Ish Smith says Pistons 2018-19 roster: Predicting who stays, who goes Greatest Piston of all time? Vote now #DetroitGOAT Casey was fired four days after Van Gundy despite leading the Raptors to a 59-23 record and earning the National Basketball Coaches Association’s coach of the year award. The 59 wins were a franchise record. The firing came after Casey's top-seeded Raptors were swept in the Eastern Conference playoffs by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was the third straight season the Cavs ended the Raptors' championship hopes. Casey, who was owed $6.5 million in the wake of his firing, molded the Raptors into an Eastern Conference power after taking over the franchise in 2011-12. He won four division titles and reached the playoffs the past five seasons. His dismissal set off a wave of criticism on social media from NBA players. The outburst was not surprising. More:Meet new coach Dwane Casey; he cries during movies Casey is known for having strong relationships with players. He also brings a strong reputation for player development, something that will be stressed with youngsters Stanley Johnson, Luke Kennard and Henry Ellenson. Casey beat out Michigan coach John Beilein and San Antonio Spurs assistant Ime Udoka for the job. Beilein could have emerged as the hire if Casey wasn't available, despite having never coached in the NBA. But he bowed out and returned to Michigan when it was clear he was not the top choice.