The Pistons finished the 2019/20 season with a 20-46 record, and after buying out Reggie Jackson and trading Andre Drummond, all indications are that they’re not counting on being a playoff team next season. However, head coach Dwane Casey isn’t viewing the team’s process as a full-fledged rebuild, as Eric Woodyard of ESPN writes.
“We’re not really rebuilding here in Detroit,” Casey said. “I think our basketball fans deserve a lot, so we like to use the word retooling (or) restoring as much as rebuilding. So, again, it doesn’t have to take a long time because if our young guys are making the progress we expect them to make, it shouldn’t be a long-term restoring. And again, if we get the opportunity to get the right free agent that’s out there.”
While Casey is hopeful that the retooling process doesn’t necessarily have to be a long-term one, he cautioned that the Pistons will be careful about how they use their cap room this offseason.
“We want to be smart,” Casey said (Twitter link via James L. Edwards III of The Athletic). “We want to build something that’s going to last, be consistent and sustainable. We just don’t want to — as I tell my kids — ‘Don’t let the money burn your pockets.’”
Here’s more from around the Central:
- The Pistons have made it known they’d be open to trading the No. 7 overall pick in the draft, sources tell Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report. While it makes sense for new head of basketball operations Troy Weaver to explore all his options with that selection, I’d be surprised to see the club move up or trade out of the first round.
- Timberwolves associate head coach David Vanterpool is scheduled to interview with the Pacers for their head coaching job on Thursday, tweets Darren Wolfson of 5 Eyewitness News. Vanterpool was one of more than a dozen candidates said to be on Indiana’s initial list.
- Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com takes a deep dive into the pros and cons of the Cavaliers potentially drafting USC big man Onyeka Okongwu with the No. 5 overall pick.