Brendan Quinn on Beilein/Pistons: It could actually happen

Submitted by LS And Play on

Quinn is pretty connected to the Beilein camp and seems to think there is genuine interest from both sides. He goes into further detail in a piece for the Athletic.

 

1) This ain't about John Beilein leveraging for more money.
2) The Pistons are quite serious about Beilein
3) This could actually happen.

That and much more, here:https://t.co/m60AIgeBfU

— Brendan F. Quinn (@BFQuinn) June 3, 2018

Yost Ghost

June 4th, 2018 at 8:07 AM ^

If JB does this then he is not the guy I thought he was. I seriously don't see him making this move. I don't think he would rather manage spoiled millionaires over kids that actually care what he says and what he thinks of them.

Occam's Razor

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^

This is hilarious and so Michigan. 

Tom Izzo would be connected to 50 million NBA jobs over the past 15 years, but of course Michigan's coach would leave instantly we smell some semblence of consistent national success in a big 3 sport. 

Sport gods hate this school. Smh. 

Oh and fuck the Pistons. 

B-Nut-GoBlue

June 3rd, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^

...and being better than Ohio State on the field and/or gameplan-wise for a few years and still losing.  And having a QB whisperer as a HC and having your QB be a main reason they lost.  And...ok I'm done I'll be here all night.

bluepow

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^

Perhaps they would offer him both positions?  The man can identify talent and being GM would allow him to keep prima donna's off the roster. 

Nevermind, this is a terrible thought and coaching in the NBA is an awful thankless job so let's all just forget about it.  The future is far too bright around here for this silly noise.

LSAClassOf2000

June 3rd, 2018 at 7:28 PM ^

Well, if Tom Gores has anything left that could be a called a brain and it knows anything about basketball however basic, hiring a coach before a GM would present a weird dynamic and you would hope his T-shirt cannon could at least remind him of that. In any case, I still think it is ultimately unlikely, but after the Van Gundy experience, the franchise would have to be truly dim to offer another person both jobs, but it IS the Pistons....

cobra14

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:18 PM ^

Let me get this straight a guy who strays away from certain top high school players because they wouldn’t “fit” his program is going to lead a bunch of NBA guys looking for their next contract? Good Luck to Coach B if he is offered and takes the job.

ijohnb

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:21 PM ^

would have a big sad if Beilein took this job, but 1) why did it not occur to us that this could happen, he has proven to be one of the best coaches on the planet, 2) I might actually care about the Pistons again- better than him going to like Orlando, 3) he has turned the Michigan basketball brand into something bigger than himself, and if Yaklich isn’t the next coach, there isn’t going to be a shortage of quality resumes, 4) he would leave Michigan with full complete unmortgaged ownership of Tom Izzo, and 5) he has a son who might be worth a look a few years from now. I do, however, worry about disgruntled committed recruits. That could be an issue.

In reply to by ijohnb

cobra14

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^

Yaklich should be the coach. Saddi maybe but I would hope Michigan would go pay for a top coach. Eric Mussleman comes to mind. I’d dump a trunk load on his front lawn.

ijohnb

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:48 PM ^

Beilein takes this job it is nearly 0% about money. He makes 3.3 per year. That buys a lot of mulch. If this is about money, he is leveraging his recent success for a bump and for assistant salaries but he isn’t going to take the Pistons job for an additional 1.5 per as the primary reason, and there is no doubt Manuel will at least match Izzo’s 4.1 per year and has probably already told JB that. Beilein may actually think they have personnel to compete if they are given the right roadmap and they may be offering a lot of personnel control.

Bambi

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:38 PM ^

Mussleman would be very low on my list. His succes, while impressive, is all reliant on transfers. His entire roster is litered with high major and grad transfers. That can work in the MWC, but it's much harder to do so consistently at a high level.

Relatedly he seems like a lock at this point to stay through the year at Nevada and ditch afterwards. His Nevada team is supposed to be a title contender so no reason for him to leave that this year. It's also littered with guys who will go pro/graduate after this year. His roster construction has been that of a guy who wants to one real shot to win it all and then bolt for greener pastures. Nevada will crater next year. I don't want that near Michigan. It'd be risking multiple 2014-2015 like years but significantly worse. Especially if he gets the opportunity to bolt again for greener pastures again, like the NBA.

Finally he also seems kinda sleezy. With the Martin twins returning he is oversigned by two guys. One grad transfer has already had to decommit and one more decommit is on the way, probably from an incoming freshman. Very Cal/Crean like move and once again, shitty roster construction when you force younger guys out. All in all not a fan.

cobra14

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:49 PM ^

Is a hell of a coach and does what is needed to do at Nevada. Those schools rely on JCs and transfers to compete.

And please don’t talk about having to move players on. JB has always done this to make room for other guys. It may not be at the 11th hour but it has been done a lot.

Bambi

June 3rd, 2018 at 7:02 PM ^

And what is needed to succeed at lower major schools like Nevada is different than at Michigan. Succeeding at one does not equal succes in the other. It's why many succesful mid major coaches don't succeed at higher levels, and Mussleman is the epitomy of success at mid majors that doesn't equate to high major success.

Also the only players Beilein hasn't had room for were all 5th year guys who finizhed out their scholarship/eligibility at Michigan and they all had plenty of time to land at other high major schools. There was no snaking of scholarships, all scholarships were fully honored. You gloss over the 11th hour stuff, but that's why it's so shitty. That's the issue.

In reply to by ijohnb

bluesalt

June 3rd, 2018 at 7:37 PM ^

Beilein is 65. He’s never coached in the NBA. I’m not sure there’s ever been a late career college to NBA jump like this, especially when the coach has never been involved at the NBA in any level (as an assistant, player, or anything else). Beilein is a terrific coach, but there will be a learning curve. He’ll have about 1/3 the number of practices. He’ll have 29 new opponents to figure out, often with no time between games to digest film. There are a substantially different number of rules between the two levels, and certainly a difference in how things are called even where the letter of the rule is the same.

I’m sure he could eventually figure it out, but again, he’s 65. He could cost your team games relative to another potential hire in year 1, and maybe year 2. This is fine if he’s younger and you’re rebuilding and you hope that he’s the right hire for a decade or more, like Stevens in Boston or Snyder in Utah. This neither describes Beilein, who probably doesn’t have a decade left, nor the Pistons, who are a fringe playoff team with a high payroll hoping to take the next step forward.

If this happens, it would be a mistake for the Pistons. 5 years ago it may have made sense.

In reply to by ijohnb

1VaBlue1

June 3rd, 2018 at 10:03 PM ^

If the Pistons take Bielien, I'll never watch them, listen to them, check there fucking score, or even think about them ever again.  

As it stands, think I'll do all of that anyway, just for interviewing him.  Fuck that bullshit franchise in a bullshit league.  Won't make a difference to them, though - I barely pay any thought to the NBA as it is.  It's a bush league affair...

SalvatoreQuattro

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:20 PM ^

The Pistons risk alienating a chunk of their fanbase while JB would be coaching a bad team that has little chance to improve itself over the next couple of seasons. Bizarre really.

LS And Play

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^

I actually don't think it would alienate some of the fanbase. I would probably be more inclined to watch the Pistons, not less. And Michigan State fans are usually very complimentary of Beilein from what I've seen, so it shouldn't hurt in that regard either.

I agree with you that the move makes little sense career-wise, though. It might be the most un-Beilein roster in the NBA. Bad team with bad contracts, etc. 

ijohnb

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:28 PM ^

would this alienate the Pistons fan base? It would suck, but I would actually watch the Pistons for the first time in like 8 years because I like Beilein and would want to see what he could do with them. And it isn’t like State fans would not like a good Pistons team because Beilein is the coach, most State fans have developed a begrudging but very legitimate admiration for Beilein. It could be exaclty what the Pistons need in a lot of ways. This isn’t Gores trying to troll Michigan, this would be a huge win for the Pistons, and Beilein would likely be walking into a lot of player personnel control for a first time NBA coach.

Occam's Razor

June 3rd, 2018 at 6:36 PM ^

Roster ain't gonna change that quickly for the Pistons. They're in cap space hell and stuck with 3 players who either have injury problems and can't space the floor. 

Nobody is going to offload those contracts. 

On top of that, Stan Van Gundy fucked the team over by getting rid of this year's 1st round pick and the NBA is changing lottery percentages to discourage tanking. 

The Pistons are going nowhere. 

Leaders And Best

June 3rd, 2018 at 7:48 PM ^

It is much harder to move bad contracts now in the NBA. Teams are no longer as willing to take them on. Ryan Anderson has been stuck in Houston because of his anchor of a contract, and Daryl Morey is one of the most creative GMs in terms of crafting trades to make the money work.

The problems is the NBA is all about your best 2-3 players. No one cares that Van Gundy turned over the roster from players 7-13. This team was being built around Andre Drummond when he got here, and that is still the case now. Only the situation is even worse now with the Blake Griffin contract, and no promising young players under 25 on the roster. The Pistons actually have one of the oldest teams in the league and didn't even make the playoffs.