Reaction: Tom Gores (finally) owns the Pistons

Dan Feldman gave his take yesterday. Here are the opinions of others around the web.

Tom Walsh, Detroit Free Press:

"Every major corporate purchase deal has its share of moving parts. The tricky elements of this one included an unpredictable Detroit economy in the wake of tremendous upheaval, further complicated by the prospect of an impending NBA work stoppage when the league’s collective-bargaining agreement with the players expires June 30.Add to that some jawboning over how much of the money would come from Gores himself and how much from the Platinum Equity investment firm he heads, and, well, these things can take time."

Danny Bohnlein, Need4Sheed:

"This is a big deal for the Pistons, and the entire Piston fanbase because now the organization may start to settle down a bit and move forward from the last 2 years of ugly basketball and even uglier public relations between the organization and the fans."

Bob Wojnowski, The Detroit News:

"The Pistons need a committed owner with dough, and also someone who lets the basketball people make basketball decisions. Team president Joe Dumars has shown he can build a team, with the Pistons’ six straight Eastern Conference finals appearances before the current woes.That’s why Gores would be wise to let Dumars work through this before making any rash decision. Keeping some elements of the Pistons’ pedigree makes sense, even as he changes things."

Mike Payne, Detroit Bad Boys, responding to Wojnowski:

"Wojnowski glossed over the fact that Dumars did trade the team’s 3 best players to Denver for cap space, then signed the current team’s three worst players to ridiculous contracts. Is John Kuester really the biggest problem in Detroit? Is he even in the top three?"

Matt Watson, Detroit Bad Boys:

"Gores has made his fortune buying underperforming companies, turning them around and flipping them for a profit. It’s far too early to speculate what his ownership style might be — will he treat the Pistons like any other distressed asset in his portfolio in need of cost-cutting and efficiency, or does he intend to throw gobs of money at an expensive hobby?"

Vincent Goodwill/Greg Kruppa, The Detroit News:

"Gores will be introduced as the prospective owner Thursday in New York City at a scheduled meeting of the NBA Board of Governors. The board must approve the deal. But that is not likely to occur until closer to June 30, the last day before what may be a lockout of the players by the NBA owners.But talk around the league and among observers is that approval is largely a foregone conclusion, because the NBA was desperate for the deal to be completed, especially in advance of the lockout."

Keith Langlois, Pistons.com:

"(Bill) Davidson took a flagging family business and turned it into a dominant player in the world of glass manufacturing with plants across North and South America, Europe and Asia. Gores launched his own private equity firm in the mid-’90s and quickly established it as an industry leader. Both have been consistently portrayed as leaders who come to know their businesses intimately while surrounding themselves with the best and brightest and empowering them to do their jobs."