Sean Sweeney, an assistant coach for the Detroit Pistons who focused primarily on the team’s defensive game plans and working with its young players, will be leaving Motown to join Jason Kidd’s staff in Dallas, according to Marc Stein.
Sweeney was reportedly close to signing a contract extension in Detroit and seemed poised to be the one holdover from last season as the Pistons made extensive changes to its lead assistant ranks.
While Detroit was interested in retaining Sweeney, working again with Jason Kidd, who he worked with when Kidd coach in Milwaukee was apparently too appealing to pass up.
In June, reports surfaced that Detroit was set to hire three new lead assistance in Rex Kalamian from Sacramento, Bill Bayno from Indiana and Jerome Allen from Boston.
Sweeney’s defensive duties will likely largely be absorbed by Kalamian, who spent several years in a “defensive coordinator” role for teams including the Kings, Clippers, Thunder and Raptors, where he previously worked with Casey.
Sweeney developed close connections with Detroit’s new crop of defensive-minded rookies, particularly Isaiah Stewart. Bayno has a reputation for player development and Allen was reportedly particularly close to young Celtics players, including Jaylen Brown.
The Pistons also recently hired former University of Michigan and Cleveland Cavaliers head coach John Beilein as senior adviser/player development to work with the coaching staff and development coaches as part of the player skill development programs. That story was also first broken by Stein.