Detroit Pistons Finalize Agreement with Stan Van Gundy

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UPDATED ARTICLE:

According to Marc Stein of ESPN.com, the Detroit Pistons and Stan Van Gundy agree to a five-year deal. This will be the 54-year old’s first head coaching gig in the NBA since 2012 with the Orlando Magic.

“The Detroit Pistons have reached an agreement in principle with Stan Van Gundy to make him their new coach and president of basketball operations, according to sources with knowledge of the talks,” Stein wrote.

“Sources told ESPN.com on Tuesday night that Van Gundy and the Pistons have verbally agreed to a five-year pact worth an estimated $35 million, with an official announcement on course for this week.”

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:

Maurice Cheeks, Lawrence Frank, John Kuester, Michael Curry, Flip Saunders and John Loyer. What do these former head coaches all have in common? They have successfully seen the Detroit Pistons drive further and further into humiliation over the last nine years.

Owner Tom Gores knows that his team needs to hit a home run in their search for a new head coach this offseason. He also knows that Detroit isn’t the ideal destination to coach recently because of the fact that the Palace of Auburn Hills is the place where head coaches come to die. For example, Cheeks couldn’t last an entire 82 games last season when former team president Joe Dumars fired him with over 30 games left to play.

With the tremendous amount of talent on the current roster, the expectations for the Pistons are to clinch the Central division title and earn a top seed in the playoffs. Finishing 27 games behind the Indiana Pacers for the division crown and nine games behind the Atlanta Hawks for the eighth seed makes it even more evident that changes need to be made by Gores.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports, the Pistons are nearing on a five-year, $35 million deal with Stan Van Gundy that would allow him to become the next head coach and president of basketball operations.

Stan Van Gundy and Detroit are negotiating on a five-year, $35M deal, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 13, 2014

“Golden State officials met with Van Gundy on Monday in Florida and left convinced he was leaning strongly toward the offer of total control in Detroit,” Wojnarowski said. “Golden State isn’t willing to make an allowance for Van Gundy to have final say on player personnel. The Warriors would make him one of the higher paid coaches in the NBA, but Detroit owner Tom Gores is willing to do “whatever it takes,” one source said, to recruit Van Gundy.”

The Golden State Warriors are also seriously considering Van Gundy to replace Mark Jackson, who was fired shortly after their first round exit to the Los Angeles Clippers. However, the Warriors are not offering complete control of the franchise, which is the kind of deal Van Gundy is looking for.

NBA source: Stan Van Gundy told the Warriors he wanted total control of basketball decisions. They declined. He could get that in DET. — Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 13, 2014

If the 54-year old winds up getting the gig in Detroit, Van Gundy is hoping to bring along Otis Smith as the next general manager of the Pistons.

If a deal's reached in Detroit to make Stan Van Gundy president/coach, he's looking closely at hiring Otis Smith as GM, sources tell Yahoo. — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 13, 2014

Van Gundy hasn’t coached in the NBA in over two years. He was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Orlando Magic after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs back in 2012. Van Gundy spent five seasons with the Magic, leading them to the NBA finals in 2009 before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was also the head coach of the Miami Heat for two full seasons, leading them to the Eastern conference finals back in 2005.

The Pistons have the longest streak in the Eastern conference in terms of playoff drought since 2009. Having a head coach in Van Gundy who’s ultimatum is to win basketball games and go deep into the playoffs can do wonders for a team that can’t seem to do anything correctly right now.

I've always like Stan Van Gundy. — BRANDON JENNINGS (@BrandonJennings) May 13, 2014

Zach Libby is an NBA columnist for Tru School Sports. Follow him on Twitter @Zach__Libby.