The Detroit Pistons have widely been praised for hiring Oklahoma City Thunder vice president of basketball operations Troy Weaver as their new general manager.
Former Thunder center Kendrick Perkins tweeted that Detroit “struck gold” with the hire.
“Detroit Pistons just struck gold by hiring Troy Weaver has their GM….he has one the best eye for talent in the NBA!!!” Perkins said in the tweet.
Weaver joined the Thunder in May 2008 after serving on the Utah Jazz as the head scout from 2004-07 and the director of player personnel from 2007-08.
During his time in Utah, the Jazz only had one losing season, made the playoffs two of the four years and hit on draft picks including Deron Williams, C.J. Miles, Ronnie Brewer and second-round find Paul Millsap.
Before Weaver’s NBA career, he was an assistant coach at Syracuse, where he was the primary recruiter for Carmelo Anthony, according to the Daily Orange.
In a statement, Pistons owner Tom Gores said Weaver’s history of finding talent played a role in his hiring.
“Troy is an outstanding executive with an exceptional track record for identifying and developing talent,” Gores said. “In talking with Troy, he’s got both the skill and temperament to lead, and the confidence and creativity to work collaboratively with others.”
During Weaver’s time with the Thunder, Oklahoma City went 578-434 and reached the playoffs 10 times.
Now, he’s tasked with finding the right pieces to overhaul the Pistons franchise that has only made the playoffs twice in the last 11 seasons.
One of his first challenges: Once again finding the right draft pick. Detroit has the fifth-worst record in the league, granting them a 31.6% chance at a top three pick.
