Mo Cheeks is out for the Detroit Pistons, so could Lionel Hollins be in?
In true NBA, we-don’t-care-what-day-it-is fashion, the Pistons fired their head coach on Sunday. Cheeks’ dismissal was first reported by Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski and surprised, well, just about everyone.
It’s not that Cheeks was doing a good job—he wasn’t. The Pistons are awful. At eight games under .500, they find themselves on the outside looking in at the Eastern Conference’s playoff bubble.
Team president Joe Dumars isn’t exactly known for hiring winners, either. He has now cycled through eight coaches since assuming control of the Pistons in 2000, meaning he could field almost two starting lineups’ worth of sideline-meanderers. Just saying.
Still, with the Pistons having won two straight, it was curious timing. Or, you know, maybe not.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Pistons may have canned Cheeks now in order to ensure they get first crack at free-agent coach Lionel Hollins, who wasn’t retained by the Memphis Grizzlies after leading them to the Western Conference Finals last season:
The only sensible scenario to explain Cheeks exiting first in 2013-14, before Woodson or anyone else, is because the Pistons want to make a run at, say, the very available Lionel Hollins before anyone else has a chance.
Hollins was immediately identified Sunday by sources close to the situation as a prime target for Detroit after the Pistons’ failed attempts last summer to convince him to work as an assistant on Cheeks’ staff. If the Pistons brought him in right away, to lend a strong voice and hard edge to a young team that would appear to need some guidance, then the timing of Sunday’s announcement starts to make sense.
Yet sources also insisted Sunday that Gores is inclined to keep John Loyer in the hot seat for the final 32 games and let the rest of the season play out before making any other big moves.
Letting Loyer finish 2013-14 wouldn’t make sense if the Pistons believe they can right their ship. If a proven disciplinarian and winner—and defensive specialist—like Hollins is available, you pounce. When you’re the Pistons, you pounce now.
Think Hollins will want to sign with the Pistons this summer when there could be a slew of other, more win-ready teams knocking at his door? Waiting only increases the likelihood they have to settle. Again.
That is, unless this is all part of a bigger plan.
Waiting implies that owner Tom Gores doesn’t trust Dumars to pick the next coach, which would make sense. Riding this season out and seeing where the chips fall could give him reason to can Dumars this summer. If the Pistons don’t make the playoffs and have yet to hire a new coach, consider him good as gone.
Combine his propensity for hiring unsuccessful coaches with his recent decision to invest $80 million in Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith over the summer, and that’s hardly a bad thing. It might actually be just what the Pistons need.
But Hollins could be too. And if the Pistons are serious about targeting him, they’d be wise to do so now before another team bilks them of their chances later.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
