Detroit Pistons next head coach matters. Not as much as drafting and trading and signing.

Gregg Popovich won 22 games this season. And he’s widely considered the best coach in the NBA.

An argument could be made that Erik Spoelstra is the league’s best coach. Yet his Miami Heat lost 45 times the year after LeBron James left for Cleveland, mostly because, um, James left for Cleveland.

Now, I know what you’re thinking: Duh?!

And you’re right, players matter first, second, third and probably next to last. Consider Steve Kerr, who coaches the Golden State Warriors:

One season he’s in the Finals, lauded for his read-and-react offense, his split action, his players off-ball movement. The next he’s in the lottery, drafting at No. 2, the winner of 15 games (during a pandemic shortened season).

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Still, 15 games?

Losing Steph Curry will do that. So will losing Klay Thompson. Losing them together? Yeah, a team might fall from the NBA Finals to the second pick.

Kerr isn’t shy about why he’s won four titles:

“Steph is a transcendent player.”

Popovich will tell you the same thing: it’s the talent, dummy; though he might use some crankier language. The Spurs’ coach isn’t keen to acknowledge his influence on the franchise. Mostly because Tim Duncan played there.

No Duncan, no titles. Not a one of them — the Spurs had five.

Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver knows this. Shoot, he saw it up close in Oklahoma City, where Kevin Durant’s departure dropped the Thunder from title contention. Weaver also helped oversee a coaching change that didn’t make near the difference losing Durant and James Harden did.

Scott Brooks coached the Thunder to the Finals. Billy Donovan replaced him. He coached the Thunder to the Western Conference finals.

There were a few tweaks with the offensive and defensive systems, certainly. And the Thunder played stingier defense under Donovan.

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But the ball ran through Durant first and Russell Westbrook second under both coaches … at least that’s the way it was supposed to go. When it did, OKC won.

Often.

Coaches matter still, obviously, most critically outside of games: in film practice, say, or in regular practice; in meetings, in texts, in a conversation on the bus; in game-prep and rotation strategies and in day-to-day vibe; in building team chemistry and in player development.

Stan Van Gundy, for example, marked up grease boards in timeouts as well as anyone but also struggled at times to connect in the tensest of moments.

Fair or not, there’s a reason Shaquille O’Neal once called Van Gundy the “master of panic.” Still, he was a good coach and helped get Orlando to the Finals. Prime Dwight Howard, though, led the run.

It’s why Dwane Casey had success in Toronto but mostly struggled in Detroit. Does a former coach of the year forget how to coach?

Of course not. Now, a team can get burned out on listening to the same voice season after season, especially when there is lots of losing. And the very best coaches are the ones that adapt as the game evolves.

Popovich did that in San Antonio over the course of his time with Duncan, shifting his focus from an all-time low post presence to a perimeter-oriented ball and player movement system that culminated in the 2014 title and some of the most gorgeous basketball ever seen.

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Where did that system go?

Nowhere, really. The Spurs still try to share the ball and move without it. They just don’t have Tony Parker and Manu GinobIli and Duncan and a roster of perfect role players. Oh, and they no longer have Kawhi Leonard.

As good as Popovich has been, even he can’t do much with Keldon Johnson and Devin Vassell as his best players. Fortunately for the next Pistons’ coach, they’ll have more promising players to mold.

Weaver will likely get one chance to hire a coach, and if he gets it wrong, someone else is sure to lead the front office of one of the league’s iconic, non-coastal franchises.

So, the next coach is tied to Weaver’s future in Detroit. And just like in the draft, he will have to take leap of faith; when hiring a first-time head coach, projection is involved, same as selecting a player.

Yet the difference finalists Kevin Ollie, Charles Lee or Jarron Collins will make with the Pistons next season won’t be near the difference Weaver makes with his selection in the upcoming draft and who he signs — or trades for — this offseason.

A good coach can make a difference. A great coach can change a culture. Yet no coach can win without talent, and experienced talent at that.

And if Weaver misses on this draft and whiffs in free agency, or if the players he’s already drafted don’t fully develop, then he won’t be long for these parts, anyway, no matter who he hires.

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @shawnwindsor.