Casey steps down as Pistons coach after last game of season

Casey was the league’s coach of the year in 2018 after his seventh and final season in Toronto.

CHICAGO (AP) — Detroit Pistons coach Dwane Casey stepped down after Sunday’s 103-81 loss to the Chicago Bulls to end the 2022-23 season.

Casey will move to a role in the franchise’s front office.

The Pistons ended the season with an NBA-worst 17-65 mark and missed the postseason for the fourth straight year.

“Hopefully my legacy will be will building the foundation with these young guys,” said Casey, a former NBA coach of the year in Toronto. “When you bring in a young team, this league is not very forgiving in terms of wins and losses. I knew that coming in.”

Casey guided the team to the playoffs in his first season in Detroit but the start of a rebuilding project the following season left Detroit near the Eastern Conference’s basement. The franchise selected Cade Cunningham after winning the 2021 NBA draft lottery but his second season lasted just 12 games before he was sidelined by shin surgery.

“Things changed, health changed and we took it down to the studs,” Casey said of the team’s rebuild after making the 2018-19 playoffs with a veteran group that included Blake Griffin.

Casey was the league’s coach of the year in 2018 after his seventh and final season in Toronto. He helped the Raptors to six straight playoff appearances before giving way to Nick Nurse, who coached the franchise to the 1989 NBA title.

His head coaching career began with a two-season stint in Minnesota.

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