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Opinion: Grading the Detroit Pistons off-season to this point

By Travis Gibbs

DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 18: Pistons owner Tom Gores addresses the media before the Inaugural NBA game at the new Little Caesars Arena on October 18, 2017 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. The Pistons defeated the Hornets 102 to 90. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - OCTOBER 18: Pistons owner Tom Gores addresses the media before the Inaugural NBA game at the new Little Caesars Arena on October 18, 2017 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. The Pistons defeated the Hornets 102 to 90. (Photo by Dave Reginek/Getty Images) /
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Detroit Pistons
Detroit Pistons /

The Detroit Pistons have finally showed some urgency over the past few weeks. How would you grade their off-season to this point?

The Detroit Pistons went into the off-season with a ton of question marks. Owner Tom Gores wasn’t sure that Stan Van Gundy was going to return. Former general manager Jeff Bower was likely on his way out.

While all of that was going on, the team missed the postseason for the second straight season.

In early May, Van Gundy was relieved of his duties as the Pistons’ head coach and President of basketball operations. Bower’s contract wasn’t renewed.

Detroit Pistons make moves

In wake of all the doubt and unknown about the Detroit Pistons, Gores brought in Ed Stefanski to lead the way in a senior advisor position. He was hired to help find the next President of basketball operations.

Stefanski is a basketball guy. He’s held upper management roles with multiple NBA franchises dating as far back as 1998. He will be directly reporting to Gores as the team continues to hire in the new wave of people to be apart of the organization.

Detroit then hired Dwane Casey to be their next head coach not too much longer after Stefanski was brought in. Casey was one of many candidates that interviewed for the position.

Must Read: Report: Detroit Pistons hire Malik Rose as assistant general manager

Yesterday, Malik Rose was hired as an assistant general manager.

Rose played in the league for quite some time. He was apart of two championship teams with the San Antonio Spurs (1999 and 2003). He was recently given the Executive of the Year award in the G-League with the Erie BayHawks.

Draft night surprise

The Detroit Pistons went into the NBA draft last Thursday with the 42nd overall pick. They decided to go up a few spots and get former Creighton star Khyri Thomas in a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. In exchange, the Pistons gave away two future second-round picks.

With the 42nd pick, they drafted Bruce Brown. Both players were mentioned as potential first-round options in the months leading up to the draft.

Ultimately, the team made some noise on a night where they were expected to be silent.

Questions and criticisms

The Pistons have done a lot over the past few weeks to fill in the gaps that has a lot of fans feeling uneasy about the near future of the organization.

Stefanski and Casey are good hires. Stefanski brings a lot of experience and Casey brings a proven track record of success from his time with Toronto. Rose also comes into his new gig with quite the accomplishment under his belt.

The draft picks were a pleasant surprise as well. Brown and Thomas are both players excelled at the collegiate level and have some tools that can translate to the NBA in different ways.

There are still some questions left to answer. When are they going to hire a new general manager? When are they going to hire a new President of basketball operations?

We still have a long way to go before the season starts. Those are important positions to fill, however.

Gores waited a long time to pull the trigger on any kind of move this off-season. Detroit’s last game was at the beginning of April. They didn’t part ways with Van Gundy over a month after the season.

Gores and Stefanski took a long time finding Van Gundy’s replacement even though it seemed like Casey was the obvious answer for quite some time.

There’s just been a giant lack of urgency up until the last couple of weeks. It seems like when an organization is sitting right in the middle of the pack with no indication of direction, there should be a bigger sense of urgency.

Grade: C+

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