Like Time’s Man of the Year, we’re not honoring the best Piston of the year. We’re recognizing the person who had the greatest influence on the Pistons in 2014.
Tom Gores bought the Pistons more than three years ago, but he didn’t put his full mark on the franchise until 2014.
In his few years owning the team, Gores gave Joe Dumars leeway to run the ship, offering only a – detrimental – vision: “We better make the playoffs.” Dumars couldn’t meet that goal during a partnership that, in hindsight, was doomed for the start.
Gores needed his guy, and he realized it this year.
First, he sent a warning shot across the bow by firing first-year coach Maurice Cheeks in January. That neutered Dumars professionally, and a kiss of death from the owner later, the longtime general manager was out, too.
Suddenly, the Pistons were without a front-office head or a lined-up replacement for the first time since 1979, when Jack McCloskey replaced Dick Vitale. It was Gores and a relatively organizational flow chart beneath him.
By all accounts, Gores handled the search well, doing his due diligence on candidates. Undoubtedly the result – Stan Van Gundy as president and coach – was a smash hit. Gores owns the Pistons, but he gave full control to Van Gundy. This wasn’t a situation like Dumars, where Gores inherited an employee and trusted him too much. Van Gundy is in charge totally because Gores wants that to be the case.
Unfortunately for Van Gundy, his first draft was underwhelming because a failed Gores choice – not amnestying Ben Gordon – had come home to roost, and the Pistons lost their first-round pick to Charlotte as a result of the Gordon trade.
That wouldn’t be the last time Gores’ inaction had a major effect on Van Gundy’s first summer.
Van Gundy decided he wanted a season with Josh Smith, Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond – a trio that any close observers of the team for the last year knew was unlikely to work. So, when the Kings offered scraps for Smith this summer, Gores should have advised Van Gundy to take the deal, even if just to get break up Smith’s contract for smaller pieces. Van Gundy didn’t realize what he was getting into with Smith, and the new president had nobody left from the previous regime to warn him – except ownership. That’s the only part of the organization that carried over, and Gores failed to use his institutional knowledge to encourage a trade.
Ultimately, that opened the door for Gores to allow the most shocking move under his watch yet – releasing Josh Smith.
Van Gundy is not the first coach who wanted to release a highly paid, but difficult, player. He’s just one of the few with the authority to do it – authority granted by Gores. Gores gave Van Gundy a five-year, $35 million contract and complete control of the team. Gores approved paying Smith more than $35 million until 2020 just to get the forward out of town, though everyone in Detroit obviously hopes the Pistons can offset more of that payment. Essentially, none of this happens without Gores.
Beyond agreeing to eat Smith’s contract, Gores is giving Van Gundy plenty of resources to succeed. Gores is paying for the Pistons to have their own D-League affiliate and an expanded basketball-operations staff.
It took a few years for Gores to really show his priorities, but for better or worse, he truly made this his team in 2014.