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Will Dwane Casey be the coach of the Detroit Pistons next season?

By Nicolas Henkel

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 04: Dwane Casey head coach of the Detroit Pistons looks on in the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on January 04, 2020 in San Francisco, California. 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. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 04: Dwane Casey head coach of the Detroit Pistons looks on in the first half against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center on January 04, 2020 in San Francisco, California. 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. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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With a rebuild on the horizon for the Detroit Pistons, is it possible that they move forward with a new coach?

In the summer of 2018 the Detroit Pistons swung for the fences and hired Dwane Casey, who had just been fired by Toronto despite having won the Coach of the Year award.

He signed a five year contract with an average annual salary of $7 million. At the time, the clear expectation on both sides was that Casey was brought to Detroit to help them return to their contending form.

His first season at the helm was plagued with injuries, most notably Ish Smith‘s absence for over a quarter of the year, but the Pistons still found themselves with a record of 41-41 and just barely fighting their way into the playoffs at the eighth seed.

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They were eventually swept by the 60 win Milwaukee Bucks, and never really put up a fight. A series win was never expected, but it still felt slightly demoralizing.

Still, there was a lot to feel optimistic about moving forward, and the consensus belief was that the season served as a foundational one moving forward.

Heading into the 2019-2020 season, Pistons fans had high hopes. The acquisitions of Derrick Rose, Markieff Morris, Christian Wood, and even the newly drafted Sekou Doumbouya gave fans a new found sense of optimism.

However, in what has now apparently become the overlying theme of Casey’s tenure, once again the season flew off the rails before it ever really began. Reggie Jackson, Blake Griffin, and Luke Kennard all suffered substantial injuries.

On top of that, seemingly every other name on the roster has eventually missed some amount of time with an injury.

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Because of this, Casey has been forced to play even more lineup roulette than he normally would, and it wound up forcing Detroit into an un-fortuitous situation.

The Pistons season slipped away faster than anyone could have anticipated. The injuries began piling up in a way that it became impossible for Detroit to stay afloat.

This opened up some uncomfortable dialogue for the fans. Was it finally time to sell off any assets and begin the rebuild? Will the Pistons finally make a decision regarding the decade long crossroad they’ve been stuck at?

The answer was yes.

Though as far as “selling off any assets” goes, Detroit only wound up making one trade, and it was to finally part ways with Andre Drummond, sending him to Cleveland.

They’ve since parted ways with Morris and Jackson via buyouts, and the Pistons are moving forward with their younger players taking up a majority of the rotation.

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Casey has been able to utilize the developmental skills that made him such a tremendous standout in Toronto.

So now that Detroit has finally bought into the direction of a rebuild, what do they do with the coach that was brought here to win?

It’s important to note that none of this is Casey’s fault, as the circumstances go far beyond his control and he’s just an unfortunate victim of a bad situation. He’s also become a scapegoat by a portion of the fan base which is both insincere and disingenuous.

Generally when things begin to take a turn for the worse, blaming the coach is expected. However, that doesn’t make it fair.

There are a few arguments that can be made here. One is that because of Casey’s skills with player development, if anyone should be at the helm in a rebuild, it’s likely him.

The leap that Svi Mykhailiuk has taken as a ball handler and as a shooter has been substantial, along with Bruce Brown‘s elevated play at the point guard position.

Conversely however, some may argue that if the Pistons are trying to work with a clean slate and get as many new faces in as possible, then maybe it makes sense to move forward with a new coach.

If you’re completely overhauling the personnel on the team, then it would make some sense to bring in a new coach to go with those new players.

Having a new head of the regime to mold the new team into something new could prove to be advantageous.

It feels unlikely that after just two seasons the Pistons would move on from Casey, no matter what the circumstances are. We’ve also received no indication that his job is in jeopardy.

If Detroit were to move on, one can assume that it would be an amicable decision. The Pistons wanting to have a totally fresh start, and Casey not wanting to once again go through the process of a rebuild. It would make complete sense.

Whatever the case ends up being, his tenure in Detroit was the product of a multitude of injuries. He still has yet to coach a significant stretch of games with a fully healthy roster.

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In the likely even that he remains the coach of the Pistons, fans can anticipate that the young products will continue to grow.

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