There is no guarantee that the Detroit Pistons are going to part ways with head coach Dwane Casey at the end of the season, but signs are starting to point in that direction.
Casey was asked directly about it after the most recent loss and his comments didn’t inspire much confidence that he’ll be back. He dropped hints about moving on and had a meeting with GM Troy Weaver and owner Tom Gores after the game.
There will be rampant speculation about whether the Pistons should fire him and then who the coach should be if they do, but for now, let’s have a little fun with it.
Here are five outside-the-box choices that are probably not going to happen, but would make for great storylines around the Detroit Pistons.
This started as a bit of tongue and cheek (so relax and save your angry comments) but some of these ideas have grown on me.
Detroit Pistons: 5 outside-the-box coaching candidates
Rasheed Wallace
Why he’s “outside-the-box”: Sheed has never had a head coaching job above the high school level
Why it’s not going to happen: See above
Although Wallace is probably not quite ready to be a head coach in the NBA, he is a guy I think the Detroit Pistons should try to add to their staff next season in some capacity.
Sheed is smart, beloved in Detroit and has been learning under Penny Hardaway alongside Larry Brown in Memphis.
He has a relationship with the Pistons’ bigs and would be a great mentor to help teach them how to play together, since he won a title playing alongside Ben Wallace.
The technical fouls would be epic, as would the pre-game hype huddle. Actually, I’m starting to talk myself into this one, it’s time for the world to see, RASHEEEEEEED.
Detroit Pistons: 5 outside-the-box coaching candidates
Darko Rajakovic
Why he’s “outside-the-box”: He’d be the first full-time Serbian head coach in the NBA
Why it’s not going to happen: It might
Fans of the Detroit Pistons might be traumatized if someone called “Darko” were leading the team, but first name aside, Rajakovic is an interesting candidate who may eventually get a head job in the NBA.
He was the first coach outside of North America to coach a G-League team (Tulsa 66ers) and has since been an assistant with OKC, Phoenix and Memphis. He hasn’t changed jobs because of poor performance, just the opposite, as he keeps getting poached and is considered a very sharp basketball mind.
He was named by ESPN as a “coach to watch” and they had this to say about him:
"“People all over the coaching world, as well as players who have benefited from his grasp of the game, rave about Darko Rajakovic. That makes a lot of sense when you consider he has been poached twice — Phoenix and Memphis — over the past couple of years by incoming head coaches assembling a staff from scratch. A European head coach has yet to break through with a sustained career in the NBA, but Rajakovic (Serbia) has the intellect and passion for the craft that makes him the current morning-line favorite to become the first. The man has authored academic-journal style articles about the evolution of the pick-and-roll, but he’s anything but academic in his warmth with players and fellow coaches.”"
Who knows, maybe having a Serbian coach would be the inside track to getting Nikola Jokic or other talented players from the region. Ok, so I’ve kind of talked myself into this guy too.
Jay Wright
Why he’s “outside-the-box”: He’s never coached in the NBA
Why it’s not going to happen: He’s retired
Wright is one of the most decorated NCAA coaches of all time with an outstanding 642–282 record and two national championships.
He was the face of Villanova men’s basketball for over 20 years before retiring last year and is just 61-years-old, so the right job could lure him out of retirement.
But would a Hall-of-Fame college coach really want to potentially sully his career by jumping to the NBA? Wright has a cushy TV job now and is probably enjoying not having any pressure or a ridiculous schedule.
Some think his retirement won’t last, and if he does decide to come back to coaching, a job in the NBA could be in his future.
Detroit Pistons: 5 outside-the-box coaching candidates
Coby Karl
Why he’s “outside-the-box”: He’s not
Why it’s not going to happen: He needs more experience
Coby Karl is the son of legendary coach George Karl and the current head coach of the Delaware BlueCoats, who just won the G-League title.
Karl has all of the traditional coaching attributes in that he is the son of a coach who was a journeyman during his own career and has since had three successful stints as a coach in the G-League.
Karl went straight into the G-League as a coach, so it’s likely he’ll get a shot someday given his resume and lineage, and Troy Weaver has shown a preference for nepo-babies after signing Buddy Boeheim to a two-way contact, so don’t rule Karl out!
Niele Ivey
Why she’s “outside-the-box”: Would be the first woman head coach in the NBA. Would be coaching her son.
Why it’s not going to happen: She’s only been coaching for three seasons in the women’s NCAA
If the Detroit Pistons really want to make some headlines, then they could definitely do so by not only hiring the first woman to be a head coach in the NBA, but one who also happens to be the mother of one of their up and coming stars.
Niele Ivey is currently the head coach at Notre Dame, where she has amassed a 61-25 record overall. She is a former NCAA champion herself and played five seasons in the WNBA, including for the Detroit Shock.
She knows hoops and how to coach it, and Jaden Ivey gives her a lot of the credit for his success and for identifying things he needs to work on.
She’s already in the audience cheering on her son for a lot of the games, so why not just put her on the bench? No mother has ever coached her son in professional basketball, and who knows, maybe someday Ivey could be the first, at least as an assistant.