In his first season as Pistons general manager, Troy Weaver made an impression. The Pistons only won 20 games, but the energy that Weaver had in turning over the roster and setting a new course is a harbinger for things to come with how he’ll manage the roster and the coaching staff.
It’s only been one year, but there’s a clear direction and a clear sense of what he wants the team to be, both on the court and off it.
“When I took the job, I had one goal in mind, and that was to restore the Pistons. I won’t stop, I won’t quit until it happens. We’re going to be unwavering in how to get there and we’re going to be committed to doing things the Piston way,” Weaver said Monday. “But the optimism and belief inside these walls comes from us doing things the right way, and we should have in each other that we can make it happen.”
The Pistons finished 20-52, the second-worst record in the league, but looking at the product on the court, there’s more in which to be optimistic, with the growth of the young core, including Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Saddiq Bey and Saben Lee.
In Weaver’s previous job as an assistant GM with the Oklahoma City Thunder, he saw a similar rebuild, when the Thunder went 23-59 in the early period of their rebuild. They had a winning record and made the playoffs every year after that in Weaver’s tenure.
“It’s kind of déjà vu because I’ve been here, at OKC when we won 23 games and we were very optimistic that we could continue to grow, and I have to same feelings here that I had back in the 2008-09 season there,” he said. “Obviously, the optimism is not in the record — because the record stinks — but we’ll continue to fight, claw and scratch, whatever we’ve got to do to get out of this hole. We’re going to do it together. We’re going to be unwavering about getting it.”
Rod.Beard@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @detnewsRodBeard