Former Pistons Forward Makes Two Suggestions for Head Coach

Should the Pistons consider former players for the vacant head coaching position?

Isiah Thomas and John Salley try to set up live video on a phone before they walked out of the tunnel for the 30th anniversary of the 1989-90 back-to-back championships at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Saturday, March 30, 2019. 03302019 Pistons Halftime 14 / Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press

This offseason has set up to be extremely busy for the Detroit Pistons, in more ways than one. Along with their lottery pick and sizable cap space, the organization also needs to hire a new general manager and head coach.

Last offseason, the Pistons signed Monty Williams to a record-setting deal to take over as head coach. Just one year into the contract, the team decided to move on from him. In his lone season as coach of the Pistons, Williams led the team to the league's worst record at 14-68.

As the Pistons begin their search for a new coach, one former player chimed in with his thoughts on who they should hire. John Salley was seen commenting on an Instagram post suggesting that Detroit hire Isiah Thomas or Bill Laimbeer to replace Williams.

John Salley says the Pistons should look to hire Bill Laimbeer or Isiah Thomas as the teams next head coach pic.twitter.com/uLJt7YXNYx

— Pistons Talk (@Pistons__Talk) June 20, 2024

Thomas and Laimbeer were both key members of the "Bad Boys" teams that won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1990. They also have head coaching experience at the professional level.

Thomas got his first crack at coaching in 2000 with the Indiana Pacers. He lasted three years there, making the playoffs every season. Thomas had a regular season record of 131-115 and went 5-10 in the postseason. After departing from Indiana, he went 56-108 in two seasons as head coach of the New York Knicks.

As for Laimbeer, he coached in the WNBA for 17 seasons for the Detroit Shock, New York Liberty and Las Vegas Aces. He has an overall record of 306-215 and won three WNBA championships.

Given their track records, Laimbeer might be the better options of these two Pistons legends. He coached for far longer, and had much more success. That said, neither have been linked to vacant position in the early stages of the organization's search.