It's not often a coach gets an extension with his team in last place. And it's not often a last-place team shows as much promise as this year's Pistons. You can knock Detroit's 52 losses, 98 dating back to last season. But you can't dispute the club's growth in 2021.
For that, GM Troy Weaver extended head coach Dwane Casey's contract through 2024. Weaver said Wednesday on the Stoney & Jansen Show that Casey excelled this season in three key areas.
"It’s quite simple. Does he get the group to play together, do they have competitive spirit and have they grown? And Coach Casey is A+ in all those categories," Weaver said.
As he assessed a roster that by season's end featured just one holdover -- Sekou Doumbouya -- from 2019-20, Weaver said he didn't see anyone who "underperformed" under Casey's leadership.
"Most of these had career years," he said. "The veterans from Wayne Ellington to Mason Plumlee to Jerami Grant, those guys had career years. And then what he did with the rookies was tremendous. And the other young guys that we acquired, like Josh Jackson and Frank Jackson, those guys had career seasons. He was able to get those guys going in the right direction."
Weaver also mentioned Hamadou Diallo among the Pistons' young acquisitions who "stepped up and got their feet under them this year."
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Equally important to Weaver, the Pistons played hard from start to finish. Though wins were sparse, they notched victories over six of the top eight teams in the East -- and pushed many of the top teams in the West to the limit. They didn't back down.
"We had a collective spirit," Weaver said. "The evaluation on coach wasn’t on the wins and losses, it was him moving the group forward. We changed horses in midstream when we lost Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin and Coach continued to lead the charge. Very happy with that.
"But most important, when you’re going through what we're going through you need continuity, on the coaching side and with the roster as well. So having continuity with the coach is extremely important for us."
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It wasn't all hunky-dory for the Pistons this season. Weaver said he hated everything about the team's record -- "the way it looks, the way it smells" -- and vowed that it won't happen again. No one's celebrating 20 wins in 72 games.
But finally, the Pistons have a plan. And they're making what feels like progress, after years of drifting aimlessly in the East. This owes to a GM who's assembled a roster of exciting young pieces, and a head coach who's putting them together. And the Pistons might find their centerpiece this summer when they pick no lower than sixth in the draft.
"I think it’s very top-heavy," Weaver said. "We’ll get another young player to add to our mix of young players and not put a ceiling on anybody. But we’re excited about the draft prospects and we’re ready. We think that this player will move us forward."
Speaking of drafts, Weaver, a noted NFL fan, was a big fan of the Lions' haul last month.
"I think they got a lynchpin with that kid out of Oregon (Penei Sewell). What I assume, what I've read, he’s exactly what you need to be a cornerstone. I'm excited for what the Lions did," Weaver said. "I really like how big and physical they got in the draft."