The Detroit Pistons are making progress on their current head coaching hunt, identifying Milwaukee Bucks assistant Charles Lee, New Orleans Pelicans assistant Jarron Collins and Overtime Elite coach Kevin Ollie as “early front-runners” for the opening (h/t James L. Edwards III of The Athletic).
Per Edwards, the Pistons are not rushing the process to fill their head coaching vacancy, as they also eye another round of interviews with some other candidates.
“The organization will do, at least, another round of interviews with different candidates, per team sources, and could also sit back and wait to see if any head coaches currently in the playoffs become available,” said Edwards.
Lee, 38, is the mentee of head coach Mike Budenholzer for nearly 10 years. Besides Detroit, he has been generating plenty of coaching interest around the league due to his brilliance and calming demeanor.
Meanwhile, the 44-year-old Collins has a bountiful assistant coaching experience, winning three titles with the Golden State Warriors in his seven-year stay with the franchise. He managed to play for 10 seasons in the NBA with four different teams.
And lastly, Ollie managed to compile a solid coaching résumé following his 13-year professional career in the NBA as an undrafted guard. He handled his alma mater hoops team in UConn Huskies for six years, which was highlighted by an NCAA Division 1 championship run last 2014.
After five years, the Pistons opted to move Dwane Casey to their front office. On the said stretch, the club tallied a lowly 121-263 card (.315 win rate).
