Pistons Get Their Man

The Pistons have reportedly reached an agreement with a new coach; Cavaliers assistant John Kuester will take over for the recently-fired Michael Curry.

The hire makes some economic sense -- a largely unknown assistant like Kuester won't command the same sort of contract that Johnson might have. That makes him a good deal for Detroit; they'll be paying Curry approximately $5 million not to coach the team for the next two seasons.

Kuester become the latest member of the "Carolina Mafia" to earn an NBA head coaching gig. He played for the Tar Heels from 1973-77, helping Dean Smith's teams win two ACC championships and four NCAA Tournament bids. After a brief NBA career with the Kings, Nuggets and Pacers, he launched his coaching career as an assistant to Rick Pitino at Boston University. He took over the Terriers in 1983, then jumped to George Washington, where he coached from 1985-90.

He's been an NBA assistant coach since 1995, with stints on the benches of the Celtics, Sixers, Nets, Magic, Pistons and Cavs on his resume. He was on Larry Brown's staff in both Philly and Detroit, and on the bench for the Pistons' 2004 championship run.

He's regarded as a strong offensive coach -- though that talent wasn't on display much during his most recent coaching stint. The Cavaliers' best (some would say only) play on offense this year was "Give LeBron the ball and get everyone else out of the way." Next season, he'll need to craft an offense using two primary offensive threats -- Rip Hamilton and Ben Gordon -- who play the same position and share a distaste for coming off the bench.

Good luck with that, coach.