OT: Stan Van Gundy, Baller.

[HailBlazers]

Stan Van Gundy, Pistons Agree On $35M, Five-Year Deal

The Detroit Pistons and Stan Van Gundy have reached agreement on a five-year, $35 million for him to become their head coach and president of basketball operations.

The deal was formally announced on Wednesday.

Van Gundy has been out of the NBA over the past two seasons after being fired by the Orlando Magic.

The Golden State Warriors were also very interested in Van Gundy, making him their top target, but they were unwilling to cede authority away from Bob Myers.

Sources say the opportunity for Van Gundy to have a Pat Riley-level say on basketball matters swayed him to choose the Pistons over the Warriors.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reported that Van Gundy may hire Otis Smith to serve as day-to-day general manager.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

SVG is underrated. I think he'll do well there.

 

[Natebishop3]

They have a ton of talent. I think he'll do well there.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Anything is better than MO Cheeks. I think he'll do well there.

 

[Natebishop3]

Anything is better than MO Cheeks. I think he'll do well there.

Somehow Cheeks keeps getting jobs.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

He looks like Ron Jeremy, I drink teal poo smell hair

 

[BigGameDamian]

I remember taking about SVG & JVG before stotts got hired an hardly anyone wanted them in Portland. It's funny how when people like that go to another group people start to talk about how great they are.

 

[Strenuus]

I remember taking about SVG & JVG before stotts got hired an hardly anyone wanted them in Portland. It's funny how when people like that go to another group people start to talk about how great they are.

Shocking. Let me guess, this was done right before Stotts finalized his deal and got hired so you could say this exact thing.

 

[PDXFonz]

I wonder if he can turn Drummond into the next Dwight, I think he'll do lots of cocaine there.

 

[chris_in_pdx]

I think he'll do well there.

Three people saying the exact same thing. I think I forgot to turn off my brain bluetooth.

 

[KeepOnRollin]

He should do well but I would not be excited if I was a fan of the Pistons and he brought Otis Smith as GM. He is mediocre at best imo. I personally think it is always a bad idea if a coach gets too much say or gets to pick their boss essentially.

 

[BigGameDamian]

Maybe Neil should start phoning Jeff?

 

[KeepOnRollin]

Steve Kerr picked GS over the Knicks. Good choice.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

sign and trade monroe, bench josh smith if he shoots a 3, surround drummond with shooters, could be on to something

 

[HailBlazers]

sign and trade monroe, bench josh smith if he shoots a 3, surround drummond with shooters, could be on to something

Develop Monroe and Drummond. Offense and Defense. Surround them with shooters and athletic defenders, could be on to something.

 

[blue9]

I can never remember which Gundy is which. Regardless, they're going to be a good team next year.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Develop Monroe and Drummond. Offense and Defense. Surround them with shooters and athletic defenders, could be on to something.

there is no way svg the gm matches a max offer to monroe this summer, imo

hes as good as gone, just got to try and get something for him

could be on to something

 

[HailBlazers]

Will be very interesting to see...

During the hubbub, Van Gundy took a moment to call Pistons big man Greg Monroe, an off-season priority for the team. Monroe, who turns 24 next month, is a restricted free agent.

A person with firsthand knowledge of the situation said that Van Gundy is a big fan of Monroe and spoke glowingly of him during the interview process. And it was important for Van Gundy to let Monroe know his thoughts. Van Gundy joins team owner Tom Gores in thinking highly of the high-character big man.

Such feelings would contradict a Sporting News report saying that Van Gundy’s hiring means Monroe is headed out the door. The report cited unnamed league executives.

“There are two things that made that job better for Stan,” one GM told Sporting News. “One is the fact that he gets to make personnel decisions; that is a big deal, of course. But the other is Andre Drummond. If you want to build your team around a young player, Drummond is the guy.

“You’re not going to build around both him and Monroe; they had too much trouble making that work. You pick Drummond and move on from Monroe.”

The report leaves out another reason the Drummond-Monroe pairing didn’t work: the signing of Josh Smith, who was forced to play out of position at small forward.

There is the strong possibility that the Pistons could seek to trade Smith this off-season, with the expectation of not getting much in return because of the $40 million he is owed over the next three seasons. It could be a case of addition by subtraction.

There is still a school of thought that Monroe and Drummond can work if a more traditional shooter joins the frontcourt.

http://www.freep.com/article/20140514/SPORTS03/305140152/stan-van-gundy-detroit-pistons-greg-monroe