The Detroit Pistons, reportedly, have made major progress in their search for the new General Manager.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Vice President of Basketball Operations, Troy Weaver, has emerged as the top choice in the Detroit Pistons search for a new General Manager, Marc Stein reports for the New York Times.
Longtime Thunder executive Troy Weaver has emerged as the top choice in Detroit's search for a new GM, @NYTSports has learned, with the Pistons actively working to complete a deal to hire Weaver
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 15, 2020
The Pistons have been looking for their top executive of the future for a while now since Assistant General Manager Malik Rose left the team to take a job with the NBA.
The new hire will still be working with Senior Advisor Ed Stefanski who, along with Palace Sports Vice Chairman Arn Tellem, is leading the hiring process. The precise nature of their role is still unclear but we know that the job title won’t have “Assistant” in it.
Both Weaver and the Pistons appear to be really interested in each other and might be even close to a deal, per Vincent Goodwill and Yahoo Sports.
Sources to @YahooSports: Major hurdles have been cleared to pave way for OKC’s Troy Weaver to become Detroit Pistons new GM. Both sides want to make this happen
— Vincent Goodwill (@VinceGoodwill) June 15, 2020
Weaver has a lot of experience. He has been in NBA front offices for sixteen years. He was also Assistant Coach of the Syracuse Orange and part of the recruitment of Carmelo Anthony.
He was Head Scout of the Utah Jazz and then promoted to Director of Player Personnel. Then, Assistant General Manager of the Oklahoma City Thunder and later promoted to Vice President of Basketball Operations for one of the best front offices in the league under Sam Presti.
Presti said the following to Brett Dawson for the Oklahoman:
"“Obviously at some point he’s gonna have the opportunity to move on and be a general manager, and I think he’ll be great when that time comes,” Presti said.“Troy has been a partner,” Presti said. “He’s been an incredible resource. He’s been a great friend. He’s helped me a great deal. I feel incredibly indebted to him.”"
In the same piece, Weaver himself explained that he wouldn’t just take a new job if the circumstances weren’t right.
"“More often than not, you’re going (to a new job) because they haven’t had success,” Weaver said. “You want to feel good that you’re going into a situation where your vision matches up with the ownership and the city’s vision for success,” he said.If you aren’t certain you can find it, Weaver said, you stay put."
A well-thought-out vision for the future is the first step towards success for a rebuilding organization. Apparently, Weaver and the Pistons are both on the same page.
Weaver has been considered for various general manager positions before but the landing never stuck. Hopefully, he’s the best fit for the Detroit Pistons and the deal closes soon so that he can start planning the rebuild.