The Pistons are still in the process of hiring a general manager, and Van Gundy said ownership “will be heavily involved in that.” The talk about former Magic GM Otis Smith has quieted, as many believe he’s content away from the game. One name to watch is Jeff Bower, former GM of the New Orleans Hornets, who’s currently a head coach at Marist.
DBB's profile of Jeff Bower as a GM Candidate - http://www.detroitbadboys.com/2014/4/11 ... head-coach
I'd be okay if Smith was hired, because I like rewarding loyalty and the GM role will seemingly be largely a caretaker one BUT I also like the idepaa of not bringing in a yesman either, and it does sound like Van Gundy realizes he needs somebody to reign him in and challenge him here as opposed to somebody who will just agree with him all the time and is looking to have more than a caretaker in the gig but give the guy typical GM responsibilities while using his President of BBall title to control the overall vision without micromanaging the GM spot.
Also worth noting is that ownership will have a say in the GM hire and will be very involved in interview process. I don't know if it means they bring their own names to the discussion or just will sit in and interview Van Gundy's short list.
He didn’t want to reveal the most pressing thing on his agenda, but getting assistant coaches in is seemingly top of mind.
“I don’t want to say anything now but we have a couple guys we’ll get in pretty quickly,” Van Gundy said. “Then a short list, five or six guys, that I like but need to talk to.”
He plans on taking a look at former players he had in Miami and Orlando, although he wouldn’t refer to anyone by name.
I assume he has his top assistant already all but chosen and will probably be announced by Monday. His mentioning about looking to former Magic and Heat players doesn't sound good for the potential of Sheed sticking on the staff in that former players would be the lower lever assistants where Sheed would be and he's looking to bring in his own guys familiar with his culture/systems.
Behind them, in the bleachers, sat other executives and scouts and coaches John Loyer and Scott Roth. Loyer was made interim coach when Maurice Cheeks was fired, and Roth was brought in by Loyer after the All-Star break.
I guess he needs to pretend he's still part of the org. And any info he can glean now from the combine could be used when he latches on elsewhere. Can't imagine he'd be kept on by Stan here, but by the same token he wasn't officially fired yet - though maybe Stan just wants to pick his brain first while he's under contract here or something.
