Isiah to become minority owner of the Pistons

Q00 · Post #1 » by **Q00** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:39 am

[tweet]https://twitter.com/vgoodwill/status/467170248945192960[/tweet]

I mentioned in another thread that Goodwill had some big news to announce tomorrow. I guess this is it.

MotownMadness · Post #2 » by **MotownMadness** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:47 am

What the hell, Not so sure about this. Unless it's been made clear that he better not get in the way of SVG. Just Gores way of making a little bit of his money back. Hopefully he's only investing in a small %.

Q00 · Post #3 » by **Q00** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:55 am

MotownMadness wrote:What the hell, Not so sure about this. Unless it's been made clear that he better not get in the way of SVG. Just Gores way of making a little bit of his money back. Hopefully he's only investing in a small %.

“Not a ceremonial piece, but a respectable piece,” was how a source with knowledge of the negotiations termed the potential deal.

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/2014 ... z31r4XDmTL

Probably similar to what Magic had with the Lakers. Enough to make him a face of the franchise, but not enough to give him any power over personnel.

I like it. Its a creative way for Gores to get Isiah to be a face of the team and maybe help with recruiting some free agents, without needing to give him any actual responsibility/decison making power. Its a Win-Win to me

DETermination · Post #4 » by **DETermination** » Fri May 16, 2014 6:56 am

I like it, hes not going to be gm like some feared he could be a few weeks ago. Hes not going to be making any big decisions, he will be able to represent the team and I like that a lot. I swear there was a rumor that gores was trying to get Magic Johnson to become a part time owner and now Isiah becomes one, I thing gores is trying really hard to get people that can help hype the pistons up while we start to turn things around on the court.

ChainLink · Post #5 » by **ChainLink** » Fri May 16, 2014 8:38 am

DETermination wrote:I like it, hes not going to be gm like some feared he could be a few weeks ago. Hes not going to be making any big decisions, he will be able to represent the team and I like that a lot. I swear there was a rumor that gores was trying to get Magic Johnson to become a part time owner and now Isiah becomes one, I thing gores is trying really hard to get people that can help hype the pistons up while we start to turn things around on the court.

Yeah Magic pretty much confirmed it too on the Anderson Cooper interview about Sterling that Gores had asked him to be a minority owner.

I like it too. Isiah won't have any influence on personnel matters since SVG's team will handle that, so there's nothing to fear at all.

Kilo · Post #6 » by **Kilo** » Fri May 16, 2014 11:22 am

Better than Magic Johnson but I don't like it. Seems pretty pointless though and I can't imagine Isiah won't have any power - or else why bother with this as Gores/Platinum? What does each side get out of it? Isiah gets to say "I'm part owner" and Gores adds a African American owner to the Pistons ownership group?

I was digging Stan Van Gundy as the new face of the franchise - now is Isiah going to be that? Part owner outranks PBO/Head Coach afterall.

kurtis48239 · Post #7 » by **kurtis48239** » Fri May 16, 2014 11:46 am

I like it,hes a legend here and as long as its not the gm role I have no problem with it at all.

ImHeisenberg · Post #8 » by **ImHeisenberg** » Fri May 16, 2014 11:53 am

Q00 wrote:Probably similar to what Magic had with the Lakers. Enough to make him a face of the franchise, but not enough to give him any power over personnel.

If that's the case, I'm perfectly fine with it. Gores and SVG seemed to have a great plan for this team yesterday. Win what you can today, while installing a new culture and developing the team while building towards being a championship contender in the future.

Keep Thomas out of the front office. Bring him in to talk to players and give pep talks. Let him show up for special events. These things are good.

ImHeisenberg · Post #9 » by **ImHeisenberg** » Fri May 16, 2014 11:55 am

Kilo wrote:Better than Magic Johnson but I don't like it. Seems pretty pointless though and I can't imagine Isiah won't have any power - or else why bother with this as Gores/Platinum? What does each side get out of it? Isiah gets to say "I'm part owner" and Gores adds a African American owner to the Pistons ownership group?

I was digging Stan Van Gundy as the new face of the franchise - now is Isiah going to be that? Part owner outranks PBO/Head Coach afterall.

It kind of makes sense, as Gores consistently referred to the Pistons as a "community asset". The community at large loves Isiah Thomas, the casual fans aren't fully aware of how badly he managed the Knicks, giving away draft picks like candy.

They only see the kid from Indiana who played his heart out and won two championships with the Pistons. It makes sense. Just don't let him have any say in how the team is ran.

DonVitoReturns · Post #10 » by **DonVitoReturns** » Fri May 16, 2014 12:12 pm

I love this move and hope it happens. To me, you don't have a Detroit Pistons franchise with the "tradition" that SVG mentioned yesterday without Isiah Thomas. Bringing him on as an "owner" would be a terrifically shrewd move. Get him back here to promote this franchise. Whatever happened elsewhere, he is loved here as he should be (by most).

I've been a recent critic of Tom Gores, but he has certainly impressed me this week. Love the SVG hire, and now this. Grade: A+

I'm also going to have to back off from my statement that the Pistons should lose their draft pick this year to keep their pick next year. There weren't many hires that would have made me change my mind, but I'm on board with SVG. Very impressive hire as coach, and a worthwhile risk to run it all.

Now if he gets rid of Jennings before game one, I may have to run on the court and kiss him.

He better, or he'll have a heart attack by mid-season.

Navas · Post #11 » by **Navas** » Fri May 16, 2014 12:21 pm

During the Bad Boys reunion, Isiah was kissing Gores' ass for the GM job. He might as well broke out the kneepads given the way he was talking to him. I really don't like this, it reeks of an ulterior motive if true.

Post #12 » by **dVs33** » Fri May 16, 2014 1:29 pm

I don't want him anywhere near the basketball operations side of things.
If gores puts him out there to please the casual fans, fine, but he better not have any sway when it comes to personnel decisions.

Kilo · Post #13 » by **Kilo** » Fri May 16, 2014 1:47 pm

I guess I have to hold out hope with this situation that Isiah campaigned for the GM spot and Gores was smart enough to pick Van Gundy. That maybe Isiah is being brought in as the business side face of the franchise, the community outreach face and that an ownership stake makes it more powerful/official while not giving him any official basketball side role and thus keeping him out of the official decision making. Put him out front glad handing the season ticket holders, have him the ownership face that attends all the games sitting courtside while Gores and Platinum partners are all back in Cali. Have him be the ownership sounding board for fans who would then take the concerns back to Gores - but for the love of everything holy make sure he has no authority/chain of command control over SVG and the basketball side.

Neptune · Post #14 » by **Neptune** » Fri May 16, 2014 1:56 pm

kurtis48239 wrote:I like it,hes a legend here and as long as its not the gm role I have no problem with it at all.

rmfc · Post #15 » by **rmfc** » Fri May 16, 2014 1:58 pm

Congratulations, IT!

DetroitSho · Post #16 » by **DetroitSho** » Fri May 16, 2014 2:23 pm

Kilo wrote:I guess I have to hold out hope with this situation that Isiah campaigned for the GM spot and Gores was smart enough to pick Van Gundy. That maybe Isiah is being brought in as the business side face of the franchise, the community outreach face and that an ownership stake makes it more powerful/official while not giving him any official basketball side role and thus keeping him out of the official decision making. Put him out front glad handing the season ticket holders, have him the ownership face that attends all the games sitting courtside while Gores and Platinum partners are all back in Cali. Have him be the ownership sounding board for fans who would then take the concerns back to Gores - but for the love of everything holy make sure he has no authority/chain of command control over SVG and the basketball side.

Basically this. And quite frankly, from Zeke's perspective, this is the ultimate "buy low" opportunity as the Pistons seem to be primed to turn things around thus increasing their future value in the immediate future.

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haulerch · Post #17 » by **haulerch** » Fri May 16, 2014 4:27 pm

I love it. Obviously, he will not have say in basketball personell. He is more a face that will be present at most games (unlike Gores, or perhaps to 'sit in Gores seat') which has been a criticism of ownership. The guy is a legend and I think it is good to have guys like Zeke, Chauncey, and Rasheed around because they are Piston family and have rings.

joseph mamah · Post #18 » by **joseph mamah** » Fri May 16, 2014 4:28 pm

Hopefully the NBA steps in and denies his bid, given his history of sexual harrassment. that has to be a pretty big red flag.

Invictus88 · Post #19 » by **Invictus88** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:10 pm

DetroitSho wrote:
Kilo wrote:I guess I have to hold out hope with this situation that Isiah campaigned for the GM spot and Gores was smart enough to pick Van Gundy. That maybe Isiah is being brought in as the business side face of the franchise, the community outreach face and that an ownership stake makes it more powerful/official while not giving him any official basketball side role and thus keeping him out of the official decision making. Put him out front glad handing the season ticket holders, have him the ownership face that attends all the games sitting courtside while Gores and Platinum partners are all back in Cali. Have him be the ownership sounding board for fans who would then take the concerns back to Gores - but for the love of everything holy make sure he has no authority/chain of command control over SVG and the basketball side.

Basically this. And quite frankly, from Zeke's perspective, this is the ultimate "buy low" opportunity as the Pistons seem to be primed to turn things around thus increasing their future value in the immediate future.

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I just can't see Isiah being content with just shaking hands and kissing babies. At some point (if not already) he's going to want more and then try to worm his way into a position of higher authority.

He's not a nice guy. He's a fierce competitor with ambition and a disarming smile.

Q00 · Post #20 » by **Q00** » Fri May 16, 2014 5:28 pm

haulerch wrote:I love it. Obviously, he will not have say in basketball personell. He is more a face that will be present at most games (unlike Gores, or perhaps to 'sit in Gores seat') which has been a criticism of ownership. The guy is a legend and I think it is good to have guys like Zeke, Chauncey, and Rasheed around because they are Piston family and have rings.

Good point about him attending games. That's another aspect where he will benefit. While Stan will be there 24/7, its still a good idea to have an owner present at games regularly too. If Gores feels he's not capable of doing that, getting someone else to do it is fine by me. They just need someone there from the ownership group to represent the team.

I'm most excited about the recruiting potential we may now have. Players today love Isiah and have the highest respect for him. With a young superstar in Drummond, a top 5 coach in SVG, max money to spend, and now Isiah to recruit, if we can't get stars here now then we never will.