Pistons hire Dwane Casey
The Detroit Pistons have finally found their next head coach.
Detroit announced Monday that it's officially hired Dwane Casey. The two sides agreed to a five-year contract, league sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Casey's deal has an average annual value just above $7 million per season, reports the Detroit Free Press' Vincent Ellis, citing a source. Additionally, sources told NBA.com's David Aldridge that part of the sales pitch that landed Casey involved giving the longtime head coach autonomy to choose his assistant coaches.
The Kentucky-born basketball lifer replaces former coach and team president Stan Van Gundy, whom the Pistons parted with in May. In four seasons as the organization's front- and back-end decision-maker, Van Gundy went 152-176 (.463); the Pistons were swept in the first round of the 2016 playoffs in their lone postseason appearance under Van Gundy.
Casey is coming off a seven-year stint as the head coach of the Toronto Raptors, stewarding the team to a franchise-best 320 wins and five playoffs appearances. But after back-to-back second-round sweeps at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Raptors elected to dismiss Casey. Toronto has yet to announce Casey's successor at the time of his reported hiring by Detroit.
Prior to his time behind the Raptors' bench, Casey helped set the defensive tone for the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 title-winning team as one of Rick Carlisle's top assistants. Casey also coached the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2005-07.
Overall, the 61-year-old has amassed a head coaching record of 373-307 (.549) in the regular season and 21-30 (.412) in the playoffs.
The Pistons' offseason overhaul is far from over, with more changes expected to come to the front office this summer. Longtime NBA executive Ed Stefanski, who was the Raptors' vice president during Casey's first two years with the team from 2011-13, was hired to help rebuild the front office. The Pistons have yet to install a full-time general manager ahead of the June 21 draft.