Detroit Pistons: Pros and cons of a controversial coaching hire

Detroit Pistons: The cons of hiring Ime Udoka

Let’s start from a coaching perspective. Yes, Udoka was great in his first season and led his team to the Finals. But the Boston Celtics were already a team on the rise with some very good players in place, including MVP candidate Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, who is one of the best two-way players in the league.

They had Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart and savvy veterans like Al Horford, so he took over a far different team than the one we have in Detroit. Udoka has not been in a situation like the one the Detroit Pistons are in (at least not as the head guy), so it’s definitely not an apples to apples comparison.

The Celtics didn’t fall apart without him, are on pace to win even more games this season and are the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. Their defense hasn’t dropped off much and their offense has improved, so one could argue that great players, not coaches, are what make  or break a team’s success (wild theory, I know).

Then there is the elephant in the room, which are the allegations against him and the subsequent suspension. At the very least, Udoka acted unprofessionally by having a relationship with a subordinate. At worst, he abused his power and made unwanted advancements towards another Celtics’ employee.

For a team that has preached “culture” and drafting “the person not the player,” it could be viewed as hypocritical to hire (or even interview) a guy who was fired for violating team rules.

Then there is the fact that his hiring would cause some amount of negative media attention for a young team that would suddenly have to be answering potentially uncomfortable questions about their coach.

It’s also not a good message sent to any women working for the Detroit Pistons, especially if the worst of the allegations are true, and could create an awkward or even toxic work environment, which the Pistons definitely want to avoid.

There are other coaches out there with equally impressive resumes who don’t have this kind of baggage, and it would be a definite flip from the well-respected Casey, who has never garnered any type of controversy.

It’s something that any team that interviews or eventually hires Udoka is going to have to reckon with, so the Detroit Pistons would have to decide if it was worth it. Someone is going to eventually give Udoka a second chance, but should it be this soon? And should it be the Pistons?