The Detroit Pistons remain in the market for a head coach to replace Dwane Casey, and there have been some shifts in the coaching landscape since the last time we wrote up the situation in Detroit.
As a slight recap, the last we heard, Kevin Ollie, a longtime NBA veteran, former college coach and current Overtime Elite executive, Charles Lee, assistant coach of the Milwaukee Bucks, and Jarron Collins, assistant coach of the New Orleans Hornets Pelicans were labeled the “front-runners” for the position with the Pistons.
Since those three names emerged, however, Nick Nurse got fired in Toronto and, more importantly, Mike Budenholzer got fired in Milwaukee after an unexpected first-round exit.
It is unclear what Milwaukee’s plan is to replace the veteran head coach while they remain in the thick of a title window behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and a veteran squad. Do they want a relatively clean slate or do they want to maintain some consistency between the pre- and post-Bud years.
If it’s the latter, that means Charles Lee could replace Budenholzer in Milwaukee. If you’re curious what Vegas thinks, they currently have Lee as the two-to-one favorite to land the job with the Bucks, just ahead of Nick Nurse (3-to-1), Kenny Atkinson (4-to-1) and Adrian Griffin (5-to-1). It should be noted, the early money is not always the smart money.
Lee also interviewed on Thursday for the vacancy in Toronto.
Speaking of Bud, is he a worthy candidate for the position in Detroit? It doesn’t appear so, and even if the Pistons were interested, I’m not sure he would have much interest in them — one 7-foot-3 potential lottery pick notwithstanding.
As for the other top candidates for the Pistons job, it seems like it could be Kevin Ollie who is leading the pack. A recent Athletic mailbag touched on the Pistons job and James Edwards III who offered up a little informed speculation, saying “Ollie is a real candidate who, I believe, is the front-runner for the vacancy.”
It should be noted that we don’t know a source within the Pistons organization directly said those words, but it’s Edwards reading the tea leaves as best he can.
In the same piece, Edwards writes that the leading candidates (presumably the three aforementioned front-runners) are flying to Los Angeles next week to meet with Tom Gores. He also says that he “wouldn’t be surprised if a coaching hire is made next week.”