Troy Weaver Fired, Donovan Clingan, and the Detroit Shock | The Weekly Drive
The Troy Weaver era has come to a merciful conclusion, perhaps not soon enough.
Hey there Pistons fans, and thank you for starting your morning with the Palace of Pistons Weekly Drive. New President of Basketball of Operations Trajon Langdon is already changing things up in the front office (and the coaching staff may be next), the NBA Draft is this month, and there are trade rumors abound. Let’s get to it.
The Sacking of Troy
Around the 12th or 13th century, the Greeks defeated the Trojans with a giant wooden horse in the sacking of Troy. In the 21st century, 2024 A.D. to be exact, another Troy was sacked - of the Weaver variety.
The Detroit Pistons mutually agreed to part ways with Troy Weaver per The Athletic after a disastrous four-ish years with the organization, a tenure that saw the team lose more games than ever before while accumulating few good assets in the process. It was a long time coming for the former Oklahoma City Thunder executive, who navigated the Pistons to a (gulp) 74-244 record. Forget playoffs, the Pistons were not even respectable.
We covered the “mutual agreement” for dismissal in an emergency episode of the Palace of Pistons Podcast.
So long Troy, Pistons fans will *miss you.
*No, they won’t
Watch our reaction episode of the POP Podcast to the Troy Weaver news:
Is Monty Next?
With Weaver mercifully put to pasture, the natural question is if Monty Williams will be let go next. Indications from those on the beat lend you to believe that the Pistons very well could opt to move on from Williams and his mammoth contract, and other reporting backs that up. Marc Stein reported that Langdon will “immediately” begin evaluating Williams to see if he should be retained heading into next season.
NBA Draft Chatter
While the Pistons search for a general manager to take command, the NBA Draft is plowing forward and is just a few weeks away at this point. Donovan Clingan, one of the best centers in the draft, could be available when the Pistons pick fifth overall. Aaron Johnson covered his fit on the roster, though it largely depends on if the Pistons keep current center Jalen Duren.
Trades, Trades, and More Trades
The Pistons figure to be one of the more active teams this offseason, and there are several avenues to improve the roster.
Detroit had been a team interested in Chicago Bulls star Zach LaVine, who may be much, much cheaper to acquire now according to NBC Sports Chicago. Perhaps just absorbing LaVine’s salary for some dust and spare change would get the job done (even though Detroit probably won’t - and shouldn’t - do that.
Brandon Ingram, another reported Pistons target, could be headed to Atlanta or Cleveland for a guard, per NOLA.com. Detroit will have some stiff competition for Ingram this offseason.
Other News and Notes
Michael Blackstone, another executive with the Pelicans, is poised to join the Pistons.
Isaiah Hartenstein, one of the better centers on the free agent market, has some interest from Detroit per Yahoo Sports.
Remember the Detroit Shock? The WNBA champion Detroit Shock? The Pistons have reportedly been in conversations with the WNBA to bring them back.
Tenured Pistons executive Jon Phelps is reportedly joining the Golden State Warriors as their salary cap strategist and team counsel.
That will do it for this week’s Weekly Drive. Thanks for joining me and see you next week, where we may or may not have another emergency podcast to cover a fired coach.