Detroit Pistons: Coach ‘Sheed??? Rasheed Wallace Back … as Assistant Coach

It’s safe to assume Rasheed Wallace won’t be doing as much of this in his new role as an assistant coach for Maurice Cheeks with the Detroit Pistons. (Flickr.com/Keith Allison)

Rasheed Wallace was a fiery player, holding NBA single-season and career records for technical fouls by a player with a whopping 41 Ts in 2000-01 and 317 over his 16-year NBA career. So he might not be the last guy one would expect to end up on the bench as a coach, but he might not be far from the bottom of the list, at least at first glance.

But that’s exactly where Wallace will be in 2013-14, having agreed to a two-year contract to join coach Maurice Cheeks’ staff with the Detroit Pistons as an assistant coach, per the Detroit Free Press.

Wallace is in his second retirement from the NBA at age 38 after being waived by the New York Knicks in April, ending his one-year comeback. His first retirement came in 2010 after he was let go by the Boston Celtics.

The last time Wallace came to Detroit was February 2004, when he was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deadline deal and was generally credited as being the last piece of the championship puzzle for Larry Brown’s squad that upset the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2004 NBA Finals.

There’s some familiarity with Cheeks, as well. Cheeks coached Wallace with the Portland Trail Blazers for two-plus seasons before Wallace was dealt to the Hawks (10 days before he was traded to the Pistons).

Wallace once scoffed at the idea of being a coach. But it’s funny how things change as we grow up. Wallace wanted to come back to Detroit at least in part because his children live in the area.

The newly minted assistant coach was on the bench in Orlando as the Pistons lost to the Boston Celtics in summer league action on Monday.

“It’s a blessing in disguise; my kids are still back in Detroit,” Wallace told the Free Press on Monday. “I have the best of both now. I’ll be able to do what I want and that’s to teach young guys how to play basketball the right way and still be with my kids.”

One could never tell that he played for Dean Smith at North Carolina or for Brown in the NBA, could they?

Just for fun, here’s a nice mix of Wallace—the good, the bad and the ugly—from his 18 years in the league:

In all seriousness, Wallace could play a big role for the development of the Pistons as he will be working with young bigs Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe. Despite his reputation for his temper on the court, Wallace was also known as one of the most fundamentally sound bigs in the NBA over the last two decades, so he has a lot to offer to Drummond and Monroe.

With Drummond, the top goal is to develop a low-post game at the offensive end. With Monroe, it his post presence on the defensive side of the ball that needs some help.

Wallace has been working with Drummond for awhile now—he went against Drummond last summer at the Pistons’ practice facility when Wallace was contemplating a comeback.

“We’re gonna get on him,” Wallace told the Detroit News about Drummond. “He’s still young and raw, depending on his athleticism, which is what a lot of 19-year-olds do. What will get Dre over is he’s not one of those ‘I know’ guys. Everything you tell them is ‘I know.’ [Drummond]’s a sponge, he sucks it up. He might not like it, but he still does it.”

Wallace might just be the right guy to push the development of the two young big men, which could go a long way toward getting the Pistons back to respectability after a four-year playoff drought.