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A trio of effective frontrunners to become the Detroit Pistons' next head coach seems to have emerged.
After Overtime Elite coach Kevin Ollie, Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee and Pistons assistant Jarron Collins were reported as leading candidates to replace Dwane Casey last week, NBA insider Marc Stein has learned the trio are “early standouts” in Detroit's coaching search.
“I have heard the same as The Athletic‘s James L. Edwards III reported this week regarding former UConn coach Kevin Ollie, Milwaukee’s Charles Lee and Detroit’s Jarron Collins emerging as the early standouts in the Pistons' coaching search,” Stein wrote in his newsletter.
Initial reporting on Detroit's interest in Ollie, Lee and Collins was provided by James Edwards III of The Athletic. The Pistons have also interviewed Miami Heat assistant Chris Quinn and Detroit assistant Jerome Allen.
Though its list of candidates appears to be dwindling, don't expect Detroit to rush into hiring its new head coach. Stein wonders if the Pistons may wait to hire a head coach until after the May 16th draft lottery, where the team has a realistic chance at landing the No. 1 pick, bringing generational center prospect Victor Wembanyama to the Motor City.
“It'll be interesting to see if Detroit delays its hire until after the May 16 draft lottery, when the Pistons learn if they have or haven't won the Victor Wembanyama Sweepstakes,” Stein wrote. “Ditto for Houston, since both teams' head coach openings naturally get instantly more attractive if Wembanyama is coming to town.”
Casey and the Pistons announced immediately after the end of the regular season that the 66-year-old would transition into a front office role after coaching the team for the last five years. Rebuilding Detroit went 17-65 in 2022-23, easily its worst record of the Casey era.
