Van Gundy fired
Stan return coach Van or to president Gundy the Detroit (above) of Pistons basketball will not as operations. The Pistons announced Van Gundy’s departure Monday, with owner Tom Gore saying it was a difficult decision. He said Van Gundy wanted to return for a fifth season with the team.
DETROIT — Stan Van Gundy will not return to the Detroit Pistons as coach or president of basketball operations.
The Pistons announced Van Gundy’s departure Monday, with owner Tom Gore saying it was a difficult decision. He said Van Gundy wanted to return for a fifth season with the team.
The Pistons went 39-43 this season, missing the playoffs for the third time in four years under Van Gundy. They’ve made the postseason just once in the past nine seasons, and even a blockbuster trade for Blake Griffin wasn’t enough to salvage 2017-2018.
The Pistons made the playoffs in Van Gundy’s second season at the helm, but they couldn’t build on that breakthrough. This past season was particularly disappointing because it may have been the most productive of center Andre Drummond’s career.
With Drummond leading the way, Detroit started 19-14 and won on the road against the likes of Golden State, Oklahoma City and Boston. Then an ankle injury to point guard Reggie Jackson derailed the season, and not even the trade for Griffin in late January was enough to push the Pistons to the playoffs in their first season at downtown Detroit’s new Little Caesars Arena.
The Pistons went 152-176 over the past four seasons under Van Gundy, and his personnel decisions have come under more criticism than his coaching. Detroit hasn’t been able to make the most of its draft position, spending first-round picks on Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson and Luke Kennard.
This past season, Kennard shot over 40 percent from threepoint range, but he was taken one spot ahead of Donovan Mitchell in last year’s draft. Mitchell blossomed into a rookie of the year candidate.