Detroit Pistons: 5 Top Candidates to Replace Lawrence Frank
By Phil Watson
Nate McMillan, left, shown at a 2009 event with the Oregon National Guard while he was coaching the Portland Trail Blazers, has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Lawrence Frank as coach of the Detroit Pistons, according to media reports. (Flickr.com photo by Oregon National Guard)
The Detroit Pistons are looking for a new coach. That’s nothing new—since Chuck Daly retired after the 1991-92 season, Flip Saunders is the only one of the 11 coaches (that’s right, 11 coaches in 21 years) to last even three seasons on the job.
Lawrence Frank is the latest casualty, fired on April 18—the day after the regular season ended—after posting a 54-94 record in his two seasons in the lead chair.
Frank was the first major hire by owner Tom Gores, who took control of the team in June 2011, but for president of basketball operations Joe Dumars, the new coach will be his eighth since he assumed his duties in the spring of 2000.
Here are five top candidates to be the new coach of the Detroit Pistons in 2013-14.
1. Nate McMillan
The former coach of the Seattle SuperSonics and Portland Trail Blazers emerged as the leading speculative candidate shortly after Frank was fired, according to Mlive.com. McMillan has been out of coaching since he was fired by the Trail Blazers during the 2011-12 season and worked with Team USA at the London Olympics last summer.
The New York Daily News reported on April 22 that sources familiar with the Pistons’ plans want to hire a proven head coach and are targeting the 48-year-old McMillan. McMillan coached the SuperSonics from 2000-01, when he took over for Paul Westphal 15 games into the season, through 2004-05, and was 212-183 during his tenure in the Emerald City, including an 8-8 mark in the playoffs.
He left Seattle to take the Trail Blazers job in 2005-06 and was 266-269, taking a team that was 21-61 in his first year and building it into a 50-game winner by 2008-09. He was also 6-12 in the playoffs, taking three straight six-game first-round series losses from 2009-11. But after a 20-23 start in 2011-12, he was fired and replaced by assistant Kaleb Canales.
Dave Joerger has been an assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies for six years after leading the Dakota Wizards to the NBA D-League title in 2007. (NBA.com photo)
2. Dave Joerger
Joerger has been Lionel Hollins’ lead assistant for the Memphis Grizzlies the last two seasons and has been on the staff in Memphis since 2007, arriving as an assistant for former coach Marc Iavaroni.
Joerger is the mastermind of Memphis’ league-leading defense (89.3 points per game) and prior to coming to Memphis, he coached the Dakota Wizards to a NBA D-League title in 2006-07 and also won a championship as a head coach in the International Basketball Association and three more titles as a head coach in the Continental Basketball Association.
Patrick Ewing has nine years’ experience as an NBA assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic as well as a resume as a Hall of Fame player. (Flickr.com photo by RMTip21)
Who better to mentor a pair of promising young big men out of the Big East—Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond—than perhaps the greatest big man to ever come out of the Big East in Ewing?
After a Hall of Fame playing career with the New York Knicks, Seattle SuperSonics and Orlando Magic, Ewing worked as an assistant for one season with the Washington Wizards in 2002-03, three seasons with the Houston Rockets from 2003-04 through 2005-06 and five seasons with the Orlando Magic from 2007-08 through 2011-12. He did not coach in the league this season. He did turn down an offer to coach the New York Knicks’ D-League affiliate in Erie, Pa., this season.
According to the New York Daily News, Ewing railed about the perception that big men can’t coach in the NBA.
“They think big men can’t think,” Ewing said. “They think guards call out all the plays. I was the leader of the offense. … I was the leader of the defense. It’s difficult being pigeonholed (by NBA executives) and a lot of times I’m feeling like I’m pigeonholed.”
Current Phoenix Suns interim coach Lindsey Hunter played 12 of his 17 NBA seasons with the Pistons and reportedly has a “great relationship” with Detroit president of basketball operations Joe Dumars. (HoopsHabit.com photo by Michael Dunlap)
Hunter was a first-round draft pick of the Pistons out of Jackson State in 1993 and spent 12 of his 17 seasons as a player in Detroit, earning a championship ring as a reserve in 2004.
Hunter spent the second half of this season as interim coach of the Phoenix Suns, posting a 12-29 record after taking over for Alvin Gentry (another former Pistons coach). After retiring in 2010, Hunter spent two years as a player development assistant for the Chicago Bulls and joined Gentry’s staff in Phoenix last August.
He was a controversial choice to fill in for Gentry—assistants Elston Turner and Dan Majerle were so angry about the decision to promote Hunter that they quit. Hunter is still technically the interim coach in Phoenix, but will likely not be retained once a new general manager is in place. GM Lance Blanks was fired on Monday, April 22 (per CBSSports.com).
But Hunter has strong ties to Detroit and, according to the Detroit Free Press, enjoys a “great relationship” with Dumars and is “well regarded” by the organization.
Toronto Raptors assistant coach Johnny Davis is a Detroit native and has spent the last 37 years in the NBA as a player, executive and coach. (NBA.com photo)
5. Johnny Davis
Davis is an NBA lifer, having spent 37 years in the league as a player, coach and executive. He has spent the last two years as Dwane Casey’s lead assistant with the Toronto Raptors and prior to that spent four years on Hollins’ staff in Memphis.
Davis, a Detroit native, played for 10 years with the Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers, Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers from 1976-77 through 1985-86 and was a reserve guard as a rookie on Portland’s 1977 title team.
He worked three years in the Hawks’ front office and has also been an assistant coach for Atlanta, the Los Angeles Clippers, Trail Blazers, New Jersey Nets, Magic , Minnesota Timberwolves and the Pacers.
He has had two stints as a head coach, lasting just one season (22-60) with the Philadelphia 76ers in 1996-97 and two partial seasons with the Magic in 2003-04 and 2004-05 with a record of 51-84. He replaced Doc Rivers after a 1-10 start in 2003 and was fired after going 31-33 in 2004-05 and replaced assistant Chris Jent for the rest of the season.
He also was interim coach for the Grizzlies, going 0-2 in 2008-09 after Iavaroni was fired.