Vince Ellis

Detroit Free Press

LAS VEGAS - The San Antonio Spurs are the gold standard for all professional sports leagues.

And the lure of trying to help the franchise capture its sixth title was too tempting for Brian Wright.

The Pistons are losing their second assistant general manager of the off-season, with Wright leaving for a similar position with the Spurs.

Wright becomes the Spurs assistant general manager — reporting directly to general manager R.C. Buford and organizational czar/head coach Gregg Popovich.

It’s a similar situation to the Pistons with head coach Stan Van Gundy having final say over personnel matters. General manager Jeff Bower is the No. 2.

It’s been a quick ascent for Wright, who joined the Pistons in the summer of 2014 shortly after the hiring of Van Gundy.

“The first thing is we want somebody who knows the job,” said Popovich, who is here transitioning into becoming the head coach for USA Basketball’s senior men’s team starting in 2017.

“He’s a very good organizer and judge of talent. On top of that, he’s got a way about him that’s impressive in the sense that he’s a team player. He’s willing to be just participatory in what he does. We have a very participatory program. It’s not management over here, coaches over here. We mesh very well. Our meeting are together. Managers can walk into my coaching sessions. I can walk into management’s office. We have a great situation in that regard.”

Wright, 34, was the assistant GM in charge of collegiate scouting and has run the past two NBA drafts for the Pistons. The drafts appear to have been successful, with 2015 first-round pick Stanley Johnson, in particular, drawing raves from the league’s talent evaluators gathered here in Las Vegas.

Wright’s duties will be similar with the Spurs. He likely will have more of a hand in scouting professionals for free agency and trades for the Spurs.

Wright is helping to replace the brain drain the Spurs have suffered this year. Sean Marks left to become the Brooklyn Nets’ general manager, and Scott Layden was named general manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“I think he’ll thrive because he’s used to that,” Popovich said. “He talks to Stan in Detroit. He’s used to being listened to, giving ideas.

“We want to hear from everybody so he fits that mold. He’s also highly intelligent and does his job very well. We’re excited to have him.”

Wright joined the Pistons after eight seasons with Orlando where he worked his way up to director of collegiate scouting after starting as an intern. His name will likely start cropping up lists of potential candidates to take over a franchise, as the league begins to address the dearth of minorities running front offices.

Van Gundy is encouraging of Wright, typical of how he treats staff members. Van Gundy said a major reason he promoted top assistant coach Bob Beyer to associate head coach was to put Beyer’s name out there for head coaching jobs.

But the Pistons' success in two seasons under Van Gundy has been noticed. The Sacramento Kings lured assistant general manager Ken Catanella away in April.

The Pistons replaced Catanella from in-house with the promotion of Pat Garrity.

There is never a perfect time to seek front office replacements, as it’s become practically a year-round job. But this might be the slowest time to find replacements.

“It comes down to having good people,” said Pistons director of player development/assistant coach Otis Smith, who is in Vegas to watch USA Select team members Johnson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

“If you have good people in places that have an opportunity to grow, you expect to lose them. The key is in the organization is what you’re bringing up continually so you still have people to fill holes.

“They filled Ken’s hole with Pat and I’m sure Stan has an idea of how he’s going to fill Brian’s hole.”

Contact Vince Ellis at vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.

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