Pistons search for head of basketball operations reportedly could target Timberwolves' Tim Connelly
After the end of a second consecutive season with the worst record in the NBA, Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores said he would hire a new head of basketball operations — someone who reports directly to him and would oversee both coach Monty Williams and GM Troy Weaver.
How has that been going? Here's an update:
• The first target for the job was the Bucks' president Jon Horst, but Milwaukee denied Detroit's request to speak to him, according to multiple reports.
• Former Trail Blazers and Clippers GM Neil Olshey declined to be interviewed, reports Jake Fischer at Yahoo Sports.
• What is holding the process up now is that the Pistons would like to talk to the Timberwolves' Tim Connelly, the man who built the Nuggets and then left to build the Timberwolves they are facing in the Western Conference semifinals, reports James L. Edwards III and Shams Charania of The Athletic. Connelly has an opt-out in his contract at the end of this season, but the Timberwolves season is still going, and he is focused on that.
• Minnesota unquestionably wants to retain Connelly, so why would he leave a contending roster he built? Money. The Athletic suggests that if Gores offered Connelly $15 million a season, he'd have to consider it.
• If not Connelly — and he very likely stays in Minnesota — other names being considered include New Orleans’ Trajan Langdon, Dallas’ Dennis Lindsey, and Chicago’s Marc Eversley.
• "What is the power structure going to be?" When NBC Sports talked to an executive from another team early in the Pistons process, that was the question — would this new person be at the top of the hierarchy, or is he just adding to a muddled power structure? Who really wields the hammer? Apparently the new person will, he will have the power to fire GM Weaver and make other changes, Jake Fischer reports at Yahoo Sports. We're going to assume the changes the new president is allowed to make does not include a coaching change, considering how much Gores stepped to pay Monty Williams.
• Whoever takes the job will help the Pistons make the No. 5 pick in this June's NBA Draft — the second year in a row the Pistons had the worst record in the NBA and still slid all the way back to fifth in the lottery.
