Detroit Pistons owner Tom Gores was so intent on hiring Dwane Casey that he made himself a significant part of the last-minute sell job. But was it the right decision for his franchise?

With big money comes bigger expectations, as the reigning Coach of the Year will be expected to elevate a capped-out and stagnant roster he inherited from Stan Van Gundy. He promised both development and contention, and cited the rehabilitation of the Raptors as a roadmap for the Pistons.

Delivering on that lofty promise will require Casey to get creative, and to revamp his playbook. The two rosters are entirely different; Toronto was built around its All-Star guards, while Detroit is top-heavy with two marquee bigs. What worked for the Raptors won't translate to the Pistons, and Casey will need to adapt his philosophy to remain successful.

Playing through the post

Casey's biggest challenge will be ditching his pick-and-roll offense to accommodate Blake Griffin's post-up game.

It's unclear if any offense predicated on post scorers can succeed in the modern era, and nobody understands this better than Casey, who once declared: "The day of the center has gone by."

He exclusively ran his sets through his guards over the last five years, while bigs like Jonas Valanciunas and Jakob Poeltl fought for scraps. And while Griffin is much more dynamic than anyone Casey coached in Toronto, he also hasn't led an elite offense without Chris Paul.

Detroit definitely didn't get the best of Griffin last season. Instead of playing above the rim, he was a mostly ground-bound, bully-balling forward. He had the same number of touches as LeBron James, but the results were poor. Detroit ranked 23rd in offensive rating in his 26 appearances, while he shot just 43 percent from the field.

Most possessions came down to Griffin operating in the middle of the floor. He resorted to unimaginative '90s-style tactics where everyone cleared out as he tried to outmuscle opponents. He posted up more frequently than DeMarcus Cousins but shot just 46 percent from those looks.

Griffin's problem is that he can no longer elevate over bigger defenders. On the play below, he tries to isolate against seldom-used Cavaliers rookie Ante Zizic, but he isn't able to gain separation at the basket, which leads to a wild layup attempt.

Griffin was much more effective as a distributor on post-ups against smaller players.

Here, he orchestrates a dribble handoff to create a switch against Evan Fournier and then bulldozes his way into the restricted area, drawing a crowd before kicking it out for a wide-open three.

Casey sees Griffin as "more than just a post-up player" and challenged him to be the best passing forward in the league, which is an achievable goal. He wants to improve Griffin's ball-handling ability and have him run pick-and-rolls with Andre Drummond, similar to how he operated with DeAndre Jordan in L.A.

But for one reason or another, the $60-million frontcourt combo of Griffin and Drummond failed to establish much chemistry last season. Griffin averaged fewer than two passes per game to Drummond, and in the scant instances where they played a two-man game, defenses simply clogged the floor and forced Griffin into threading difficult passes that often led to turnovers.

Spacing will be a nightmare

Griffin's inability to mesh with Drummond is the result of poor perimeter shooting - another significant difference between Toronto and Detroit.

Casey found tremendous success in the pick-and-roll because the Raptors had shooters who could effectively space the floor. Toronto had seven players that shot 36 percent or better from deep last year, whereas Detroit had just three shooters after swapping out Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris for Griffin.

Here's a snapshot of four different Griffin post-ups from the same game. In each example, the Rockets abandon their assignments to wall off the paint. That speaks to both Griffin's ability as a scorer and the total lack of respect for the Pistons' perimeter shooters.

To make matters worse, the Pistons lost Anthony Tolliver to the Timberwolves in free agency. Tolliver was more than just a blue-collar fan favorite; he hit 43.6 percent from deep last season on 4.6 attempts per game, and paired well with both Griffin and Drummond because he didn't need the ball. Losing James Ennis to the Rockets also hurts, because he had the size to slide up a position and play power forward in a pinch.

Adding Glenn Robinson III (41 percent on 1.5 3-point attempts per game) falls short of filling the gap, as he's largely a perimeter player. Drummond's push to become a 3-point shooter won't be taken seriously until he can hit free throws. And Stanley Johnson remains a raw enigma that hit 28 percent on threes last season.

Casey will have to engineer spacing by force-feeding minutes to Reggie Bullock and Luke Kennard. Bullock thrived in a two-man game with Griffin, and Kennard showed marked improvements throughout his rookie campaign. The downside is that Kennard is a minus defender and Bullock can't do much beyond shooting, but Casey will simply have to make do.

Another solution could be for Griffin to operate as a spot-up shooter, since he averaged a respectable 1.19 points per possession last season. However, that would require him to give up the ball and embrace a new role as a floor spacer, which will be a difficult sell for a newcomer like Casey to make - especially given the lackluster cast Griffin would be deferring to.

No lead guard

One of Casey's favorite strategies with the Raptors was using three-point-guard lineups, but it could be a challenge to find three functional guards on the Pistons' roster.

Toronto featured one of the best guard rotations in the league. Lowry made more threes than anyone except James Harden and Paul George last season. DeMar DeRozan earned All-NBA honors. Fred VanVleet finished third in Sixth Man of the Year voting. Delon Wright single-handedly swung playoff games as a two-way threat.

Things are much more dire in Detroit. Reggie Jackson will have a starting role in order to justify his bloated $19-million annual salary, but injuries have derailed his career. He missed 67 games over the past two seasons and drew little interest when he was dangled at the trade deadline. Jackson is a decent drive-and-kick threat when healthy, but the Pistons need more spacing and he's a career 32 percent shooter from deep. Backup guard Ish Smith (career 30.1 percent) is a difficult fit for similar reasons.

That said, Casey should be able to create more space by bringing a level of organization that was noticeably absent in several Pistons games toward the end of last season. Jackson and Smith were often tasked with creating offense out of nothing, and the lack of structure brought about obvious errors. Casey will help them improve in that regard.

But what purpose does a lead guard even serve next to a point forward like Griffin, who will initiate most of the offense? Griffin's at his best when he's playing inside out, but that style requires spot-up shooters, not slashing guards who will hold the ball and cramp the floor. Casey should strongly consider lineups with three wings and no point guard to maximize Griffin's skill set, similar to how the Cavaliers played around James.

Ultimately, these are personnel issues for the front office to resolve, and expectations should reflect the difficult situation that he's inheriting. The Pistons might have gone all out to secure Casey's services, but if they want him to be successful, they have a lot more work to do.