Detroit — When the smoke cleared from Troy Weaver’s impressive haul on draft night — securing two lottery picks in explosive guard Jaden Ivey and athletic big man Jalen Duren — most experts around the NBA picked the Pistons as big winners of the 2022 draft.
One of those pundits was ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who gave Detroit kudos for its draft on “First Take” the day after the draft. Smith, a proud fan of the New York Knicks, wanted to see Ivey play in Madison Square Garden, but the Pistons were able to select the former Purdue star with the No. 5 overall pick.
Smith is in Detroit this weekend as the guest speaker for the annual WGPR Historical Society fundraising gala on Saturday at the ICON on Detroit’s riverfront. He hosted his two-hour show live from the William V. Banks Broadcast Museum on Friday.
When asked about the Pistons and his expectations for this season, Smith applauded Weaver, coach Dwane Casey and the team’s potential starting backcourt of Cade Cunningham and Ivey.
“These brothers can ball, there’s no doubt about that. I like their upside,” Smith told The Detroit News. “I like the backcourt of Cunningham and Ivey. I love Dwane Casey as a coach. He’s a friend; I’ve known him for many years. Troy Weaver, who I’ve known for years, and it’s about time that he’s GM and he’s getting the recognition that he deserves because he’s an outstanding basketball mind.”
Smith also spontaneously added his perspective on seeing Casey, who was hired by the Pistons after seven seasons with the Toronto Raptors, in Detroit. Casey won four Atlantic Division titles and was voted the 2018 NBA Coach of the Year, but couldn’t reach the NBA Finals.
The Raptors reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2015-16, but fell to the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers in six games. The Raptors replaced Casey in 2018 with Nick Nurse, who coached the team to a championship in 2019.
“For me, when I think about Dwane Casey, it actually hurts me that he’s here,” Smith said. “I’m hoping he’s going to be around to build something, but I believe that Dwane Casey would be a champion as a head coach had he not been replaced in Toronto. His crime was that he couldn’t beat LeBron James. But the year that he got let go is the year that LeBron left the Eastern Conference to go out west for the (Los Angeles) Lakers.
“So yeah, if Dwane Casey had Kawhi Leonard, Pascal Siakam and Kyle Lowry, and Serge Ibaka and those boys, what if he was left to finish the job? I believe the Toronto Raptors would’ve won the title with him, just like they won it with Nick Nurse, if they had that situation available to him — where Kawhi came to the East and LeBron went out West.
“That wasn’t to be, and because of that, Dwane Casey is stuck in this situation. I have no doubt that he’ll get (the Pistons) better if he sticks around long enough and is allowed to make that happen.”
Smith, who’s a regular advocate for diversity among head coaches in professional sports, says he’s aware of the limited opportunities and second chances offered to Black candidates.
“But I’m one of those that recognizes the plight of Black coaches and the challenges they face, Smith said, “How I’ve been hemming and hawing about that for years, so to see him having to go from a situation in Toronto to this, it’s just a personal sadness for me when it comes to him because people don’t realize how good he is.”
The Central Division’s difficulty increased last week when the Cavaliers acquired three-time All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell to an emerging group of young stars in Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
Cleveland doubled its win total from 22 to 44 and reached the play-in game last season, building momentum for postseason success beyond the LeBron James era, and that’s before the Mitchell trade. Smith said he doesn’t see the Pistons’ rebuild expediting as quickly as the Cavs’, but he believes the team will improve upon their 23 wins from last season.
“No, not that type of leap. Cleveland just got Donovan Mitchell to pair with Darius Garland and they got a frontcourt that can defend,” Smith said. “You ain’t that team yet, but I think Detroit will be improved and I think Cunningham and Ivey are a damn-good backcourt.”