DETROIT – The Detroit Pistons don't have a team president or general manager - but they are apparently moving closer to hiring a new head coach.
It's been a month since the Pistons and Stan Van Gundy "parted ways," and yet the team has made no decisions on his replacement.
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According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pistons have seemingly narrowed their head coaching search to three candidates: Dwane Casey, John Beilein and Ime Udoka. The three will meet with Pistons owner Tom Gores.
Dwane Casey
Casey led the Raptors to a franchise-record 59 wins this season as Toronto earned the top seed in the Eastern Conference for the first time. He posted a 320-238 record in seven seasons and is the franchise’s winningest coach.
Casey was named coach of the year by the National Basketball Coaches Association, an award voted on by NBA head coaches.
Under Casey, the Raptors won four Atlantic Division titles and advanced to the playoffs in five consecutive seasons. But Toronto couldn’t get past Cleveland, losing to LeBron James and the Cavs in each of the past three playoffs.
John Beilein
It would be a heartbreaking move for Michigan basketball fans, but Beilein could be looking to conquer the final basketball frontier: the NBA.
Beilein has been successful at every level of basketball coaching - except for the NBA. Beilein is one of only ten coaches to have taken four different schools to the NCAA Tournament.
Beilein took over at Michigan in 2007 and has taken his teams to multiple Final Four appearances, Big Ten championships and Big Ten tournament wins.
The 65-year-old coach is known for developing young, under-the-radar players. It could be exactly what the Pistons need. But is it what Beilein needs?
Ime Udoka
The unknown candidate here is Ime Udoka.
Udoka, 40, is a former NBA player and member of the Nigerian national team. Udoka has coached under Gregg Poppovich since 2012 with the San Antonio Spurs.
Udoka is from the West Coast, growing up in Portland before spending some time with the Lakers and Knicks, as well as NBA D-League teams.
Udoka won a championship with the Spurs in 2014.
