Pure Michigan Sports

The Detroit Pistons were expected to struggle this season and deal with some adversity, but I’m not sure anyone saw what has transpired coming.  Yesterday half the team ( Hamilton, Wallace, McGrady, Wilcox, Prince, and Daye and Stuckey were late) did not show up for shoot around, and while some had their reasons, it has been labeled a players protest against the coach.  None of the players who missed shoot around played last night and instead of clowning their coach they embarrassed the franchise, city and the NBA.

Matt Slocum / Associated Press

It’s no secret that majority of the players aren’t happy with the direction of the team or the coach, but what purpose is this season long display of immaturity proving?  The Pistons core of Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince have had more than their share of coaches during their time with the team, and now coach killers will be added to their franchise legacy permanently.  While Kuester clearly isn’t working out, blaming him for all of the team’s problems is moronic.  He came to the team taking over an impossible situation while the team tried to re-build on the fly and absorb the drama and uncertainty of the team being sold, all during his first two years as an NBA head coach.  Kuester will likely be let go sooner than later, but his dismissal will provide no answers and will not make this team any better.

The Pistons have been stuck in neutral, and their inability to move on from the ‘going to work’ years has been a main reason.  Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace will be gone at season’s end, hopefully Dumars can make use of Prince’s expiring deal in the offseason through a sign and trade to retain some value.  However, the Pistons must bite the bullet and buyout Richard Hamilton and the remainder of his contract.  It will be a difficult cap hit to absorb, but he has become a cancer to this team and is bringing no value on or off the court to the franchise.  Fans continue to clamor that Bill Laimbeer should be the next head coach, but as much as this team could use a stern voice, they are far more desperate for an experienced coach who will demand respect and control of the players.

This season cannot end soon enough for the Pistons, but the players (many who built this franchise up) have displayed little class and aren’t making this attempt to rebuild the team any easier.  It remains unclear who the coach, players, GM, or even the owner will be in the future, but this season has created a stain on the franchise that will take years to remove.  Struggling and missing the playoffs seemed inevitable this season, but losing credibility and respect within the league and from their fans is something to the Pistons most also rebound from.

Tonight the Detroit Free Press announced that Michigan native Tom Gores has finally reached a tentative deal with Karen Davidson to purchase the Detroit Pistons.  Although the sale must be finalized by the NBA and commissioner David Stern, it would seem highly unlikely the offer will be rejected.  Although Forbes recently reported the value of the franchise dropping to  $360 million, it appears Gores will be purchasing the Pistons, the Palace of Auburns Hills and the DTE Energy Music Theatre for $420 million.  Further details of the sale price and purchasing agreement are still not completely clear, but it would appear as though some strange events would have to take place for Gores to not be the next owner.

Although the Pistons have become some what of a dormant franchise, finally having an owner in place should re-ignite them and allow them to shift out of the neutral standing they have been stuck in since Karen Davidson took over the team.  Obviously it would have been nice to see Mike Ilitch buy the team and bring the Pistons back to Detroit, I still think the Pistons will be better off with their own owner.  Unlike Mike Ilitch, Gores has made it very clear he plans to keep the team in Auburn Hills and can hopefully provide this team with the direction and passion they deserve.  While this can’t be an ideal situation for Gores to takeover, the Pistons current situation will allow him the opportunity to re-start from scratch as this team is in the process of a lengthy re-building attempt.  If nothing else it will be very interesting to see what changes will be made, from the players, to the coaches and front office.  However, it is definitely a relief to know that the sale process is finally over.

The Detroit Pistons entered this season facing uncertainty without a true owner in place, but few thought the ramifications of not having an owner could cripple this organization.  Unfortunately the recent feud between Richard Hamilton and Coach John Kuester has the potential to sent the franchise back quite a few years.  If only the Pistons had been lucky enough for the three way trade between Denver, New Jersey and Detroit had gone through maybe none of this would have happened.  Sadly luck has not been on the Pistons side of late and since the trade fell apart the perception of the team has begun to crumble.

Not having an actual owner has help lead to this franchise spin out of control, because no one is in charge.  Once the Pistons had decided that for the best interest of the team that Hamilton no longer fit their current or future plans they should have found a way to make this transition work for everyone.  Since Hamilton’s contract is difficult enough to move it was imperative that the team found a way to make him seem as valuable as possible for a contender looking for a shooting guard to put them over the edge.  Coach Kuester’s immature approach of handling this situation between him and Hamilton has not only received criticism from the local media, but from current players (most notably Ben Gordon) and former players (Chauncey Billups).

The Pistons have been reluctant to deal Hamilton without getting value in return, but mistreating him and making him appear like a problem certainly isn’t increasing his trade value.  Dragging a player through trade talks and having him sit out games isn’t uncommon, but the team and player usually come to an understanding before this occurs.  The NBA is a player dominated league and now the Pistons have drawn attention to themselves for mistreating a former star and champion.  It’s mind boggling to consider Kuester’s approach logical, but it’s even worse that GM Joe Dumars has allowed this situation to unfold the way that it has.  Giving Kuester this kind of control would be some what understandable if he was a Hall of Fame coach who made this team tick and ran a tight ship, but he is clearly a cheap alternative while the team re-builds.

The Pistons have enough issues attracting free agents as it is, and cant afford to be burning bridges with current and future players.  It’s fair to assume this situation and time of turmoil could have been avoided had a new owner in place, but Karen Davidson seems far more concerned about money than anything else.  The inflated numbers proposed to Mike Ilitch and unrealistic demands she continues to place on other prospective buyers have left this extremely vulnerable as they struggle to rebuild.  Hopefully a new owner can take over soon and begin to clean house to avoid any further damage.  While the Pistons have some nice young players to build around, now they will have to worry about repairing their perception with players, finding a new GM, and head coach as well.

Heading into this season GM Joe Dumars vowed to actively search for trades to improve his team.  As the ‘owner’ Karen Davidson struggled to sell the team it became obvious Dumars wouldn’t be able to make just any deal until a sale for the team was imminent.  However, Dumars stayed patient waiting for the right move to come along and was able to trade a player that seemed unmovable, as it appears the Pistons could finally have found their new owner in Tom Gores.  Tonight the Pistons were part of a three team blockbuster deal

Ned Dishman / NBAE / Getty Images

As much flack as Dumars has received over the years this trade gives him the flexibility to finally re-build the Pistons.  While it’s still hard to believe Dumars was able to find a trade partner who was willing to take on a player that clearly had no use for and who had a brutal contract.  Obviously it helped that Carmelo Anthony wanted Hamilton a part of the deal and that they both share an agent.  However you still must give credit to Dumars for finding a deal that made sense for the Pistons.  All along many assumed the Pistons would be able to trade Tayshaun Prince and his expiring contract and eat the remaining years on Hamilton’s deal.  Now Dumars can focus on trying to find a suitor for Prince, which could bring even more flexibility and their new owner.

Unfortunately last night the deal that would’ve sent Hamilton to New Jersey fell through last night.  Since New Jersey couldn’t confirm that Carmelo Anthony was truly interested in signing an extension with the team they decided it was worth the gamble.  The Nets and Nuggets will move on and likely find other deals or options to improve their rosters, however it remains to be seen if the Pistons can find another team interested in Hamilton.  The Pistons have looked better without Hamilton as he has been sitting out of games as a DNP-CD (Did Not Play-Coach’s Decision).  However this won’t stop Dumars from doing everything he can to try to find suitors for Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince.  Over the last few weeks it has become increasingly obvious, as if it wasn’t already, that the team needs to build around their youth.  It will be interesting to see what other deals Dumars can find, but having this deal fall through just made his job even tougher.

Michael Heiman/Getty Images

News has surfaced that Karen Davidson has granted Michigan native Tom Gores an exclusive 30 day agreement to finalize a deal to purchase the Detroit Pistons.  While Davidson also granted a similar opportunity to Mike Ilitch a few months ago, it is hard to imagine Gores or Davidson will not make this transaction a done deal.  All along Gores has appeared to be the next best option behind Ilitch and seems like a solid choice on paper.  He is a a Flint native, who attended Michigan State and has strong ties to Michigan.  He also appears to be far more interested in keeping the Pistons in Auburn Hills than moving them to downtown Detroit like Ilitch had in mind.  The one main reason why it would appear that Davidson and Gores may not agree on a deal is because rumors have circulated that Gores isn’t willing to pay $400 million for the franchise (valued at $480 million).  However Davidson has already let one prospective owner fall through the cracks and can’t be interested in prolonging the sale much longer.

Only time will tell how this story eventually unfolds, but it would be in the best interest for everyone for the Pistons to be sold sooner than later.  The franchise has been stuck in neutral and is desperate to finally have an owner and a direction once again.  All along I preferred Gores to buy the Pistons over Ilitch because it would give them an owner who could put all of his focus into them.  I am not discounting Ilitch as an owner, but the Pistons need a lot of help and having an owner who is also juggling two other professional teams would probably make it difficult.  Hopefully Gores can bring back the passion and winning to Deeetroit basketball.