This piece from the Detroit Free Press seems to suggest that former Mavericks’ coach Avery Johnson could be the leading coach for the Pistons’ head coaching job. Mike Bacsik, filling in for Norm Hitzges earlier this week on The Ticket, devoted an entire segment of his radio program to the possibility of Avery becoming the Pistons’ new man. Bacsik felt that the hiring of Johnson, coupled with the recent signing of Ben Gordon, could set into motion a series of events that could vastly improve the defense of the Mavericks.
Bacsik contends that Rip Hamilton will not accept a back-up role. He tried it last year and hated it and it’s one reason the Pistons fired their coach. When Avery was in Dallas, one of his favorite players was Jason Terry, a 2 guard who thrives on coming off the bench. Bacsik felt that Avery, if hired, might contact the Mavs about a possible trade of Hamilton for Terry. Both players are the same age and have similar contracts, so at least theoretically the deal might work.
It seems highly unlikely that all the pieces would fall into place in order for this trade to happen, but at least the first piece might be about to be set in place. As much as I love JET, I would certainly welcome the addition of Hamilton to our team. Again, even if Avery is hired by the Pistons, I think there is probably less than a 10% chance this deal would go down, but I do think it’s worth discussing now that it appears he is the Pistons’ leading candidate.