With John Kuester fired, the Detroit Pistons' search for a new head coach has already begun. Although Joe Dumars declined to outline a specific timetable for hiring a new coach, he said the Pistons' search would begin "immediately."
Considering the move to fire Kuester was expected to happen for quite some time, it didn't take long for names of potential candidates to leak out from a variety of sources.
The first report came from Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski, who said the list of candidates includes the following people: former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson, Milwaukee Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson, Minnesota Timberwolves assistant and former Pistons player Bill Laimbeer and TV analyst Mark Jackson.
CBS Sports' Ken Berger confirmed the preliminary list of candidates, and he also added these names into the mix: Boston Celtics assistant and former New Jersey Nets head coach Lawrence Frank, Dallas Mavericks head coach Dwane Casey and New Orleans Hornets assistant Michael Malone.
ESPN's Chris Broussard said that the Pistons will take their time with this search. With a lockout looming, there isn't necessarily a huge sense of urgency for teams to fill vacancies, so there's no telling when Kuester's replacement will be hired.