Pistons owner Tom Gores vows ‘change is coming’ with GM Troy Weaver’s future apparently in jeopardy [Video]

DETROIT — The Detroit Pistons are on the clock.

Usually that means something different, a time for draft strategies to come to fruition, a time for general manager Troy Weaver to work some trade magic with minutes being of the essence.

Now, the clock means something different. A march of the most dubious kind, to history involving a losing streak that seemed unfathomable in late January. A march of days, of quarters — and if they’re lucky enough to stay in contention, seconds ticking away.

On the verge of joining the 2013-14 Philadelphia 76ers and 2010-11 Cleveland Cavaliers as owners of the longest in-season losing streak (26 games), Pistons owner Tom Gores took time to sit with members of the media to discuss the present and future of a franchise he inherited well over a decade ago, a proud one he expected to have success with but one that is enduring chants of “sell the team” at Little Caesars Arena in the midst of a 25-game losing streak.

He believes the notion of selling the team is “ridiculous” but is troubled and concerned by the 2-26 record. Gores wouldn’t say it outright, but Weaver appears on the clock to turn this around in a very short amount of time.

“I expect change,” Gores said on a Zoom call from California on Friday night. “We expected a lot more. But we have to be real and then there’s some things that hadn’t been working with the makeup of the team.

“Accountability that has to be held. There might be additions, you know, to staff and all that stuff, but what’s for sure is change is coming.”

When Gores comes to see the team, he’s courtside and visible. He visited the team a couple days ago, quietly, and met with Weaver, head coach Monty Williams and a handful of players to get their assessments of the team’s issues — and probably lay some directives, too.

“We’re doing a lot of reflecting. Troy is, Monty is, I am,” Gores said. “We have to be careful. We’ve taken a lot of steps to get ready for the future.”

The next month will be a critical one for the future of the franchise, and possibly Weaver’s as well. He agreed to an extension well over a year ago, after guiding the Pistons to an advantageous position of financial flexibility and youth, but it hasn’t been supplemented with veterans who can help teach them how to win.

They’re not saddled with bad contracts, a credit to Weaver. But the veteran talent has either underwhelmed or been unavailable due to injury. Monte Morris has missed the entire season with a quad injury. Top scorer Bojan Bogdanović has played only nine games recovering from a calf strain, leaving a young team even younger to start the season.

The Pistons opted to trade for sharpshooter Joe Harris instead of going into free agency, but he has battled injuries all season — a huge hole for a team last in 3-point attempts, makes and percentage.

The cap space is well and good, but that doesn’t help in the moment — and it’s as bleak as it’s ever been, creating the pressure Gores is now placing on Weaver.

When this type of losing gets in your building, it’s almost impossible to get it out. Gores admitted “maybe we underestimated something” — routinely pointing to the youth on the roster, as the Pistons have eight players under the age of 23 receiving significant playing time.

“We have an incredible city still backing us and I know some of them are mad at me. I understand that. I get it. I don’t blame them,” Gores said. “All of the dots there are kind of ready to be connected.”

Gores was attempting to be measured and somewhat coy, but his frustrations were evident. The Pistons have not experienced success since he became owner in 2011, and the last playoff game the franchise won was May 26, 2008 — Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.

“I’m still bright on the future. But it’s not going well. It’s raining outside,” Gores said. “We can’t pretend it’s sunny. It’s not sunny. Get the umbrella out. We got things to do.”

Gores said the blame starts with himself — and Weaver. The franchise was in a mess when Weaver showed up, in the middle of a pandemic no less. Gores noted Weaver correctly assessed a full-scale rebuild was needed and the process has been painful.

Weaver has taken on a few too many pet projects — former high draft picks with pedigree but not much professional success to show, hoping a change in scenery would unlock unfulfilled potential.

It hasn’t worked as of yet, and the franchise swung big on huge upside in the draft as opposed to a more prudent selection, like Killian Hayes over Tyrese Haliburton in Weaver’s first draft in 2020.

But there’s a lot of voices with influence in the building, perhaps with more influence than they should have and it’s hindered the organizational direction to a degree. Vice chairman Arn Tellem is well-connected due to his time as one of the most powerful agents in sports and is a trusted adviser to Gores. According to some, Tellem uses his influence in basketball operations. Is it too much influence? Well, the results haven’t shown it’s been a positive thing, that’s for sure. Having a lot of cooks has almost always been the case with this franchise, and plenty others, to be sure, but the Pistons could stand to benefit from a top-down mentality that filters through the rest of the decision-makers.

“We have a lot of people who are good assets and good advisers and everything,” Gores said. “It’s really Troy and I. There’s a lot of people who might want to go in a different direction. But the voice of it all is really Troy and I. We’re accountable for where we’re at.

“There’s voices everywhere. I hear what you’re saying. With Troy and I, it’s an aligned vision. But I understand the vision has to get adjusted, and Troy does, too.”

It’s too much noise, too many differing philosophies on how this team needs to be built, and it’s led to this quagmire the Pistons find themselves in. A legacy franchise, one of a handful to win multiple titles in the modern NBA (when the playoff expanded to four rounds and 16 teams in 1984), looking dreadful and at times, rudderless.

Nobody has stepped forward to outwardly take accountability, and even a couple wins sprinkled into this streak wouldn’t change the macro of this team’s outlook — thus leading Gores to come out publicly.

How much of this is on him?

“Blame me. Support them [the players],” he said.

With a record contract to Williams, they expected noticeable improvement after years of racing to the bottom. And even if that was too ambitious, losing this many games — so many well into double digits — is too extreme.

Williams hasn’t been able to fully reach this group, and hasn’t replaced assistant coach Dan Burke, who’s been away from the team for a personal issue since the start of the season.

While the roster hasn’t been optimized, it’s not an optimal collection to help maximize Cade Cunningham’s needs — the No. 1 pick in 2021 who missed almost all of last season following surgery on his shin in December 2022.

Cunningham has turned the ball over more than expected and at times his defense has lacked, but his play has steadily improved of late and following the last loss to the Utah Jazz, he volunteered to come to the podium to take accountability to the public — which has been in short order throughout this streak.

Jaden Ivey showed signs of blossoming with the added opportunities in Cunningham’s absence, but Williams has been slow to trust him. Ivey can be trick-or-treat: “one great play, one erratic one, one good play, one puzzling one,” so the organization has to decide how big a part he’ll play in their future.

When this type of losing happens, an organization must take a sober look at itself at all levels. It didn’t take one person to create a mess this massive, and even though Weaver is on the clock here for the foreseeable future, it’ll take more than one person to clean it up.

The whole franchise should be on notice.