Ed Stefanski’s hiring became official on May 24, which makes Saturday his 100th day on the job. Good luck finding an administration that’s had a more productive first 100 days.
Stefanski – hired a month before the NBA draft and not much more than that before the start of free agency – had to move quickly on several fronts. In addition to the draft and free agency, he needed to hire a head coach and restock his front office.
One thing he had going for him was a returning core and a relatively stable roster that included all five starters in the fold. Stefanski wouldn’t have been interested in the position Tom Gores was offering – essentially, to oversee basketball operations – if the mandate included a tear-down and bottom-up rebuilding.
But that has never been part of Gores’ DNA and it wasn’t about to be now after last winter’s trade for Blake Griffin meant he was presiding over the most talented roster of his tenure as Pistons owner.
With this week’s hiring of a new medical and training staff – Michigan natives Bernard Condevaux (Berkley) and Jim Scholler (Grand Haven) are coming home after extensive careers spent largely out of state – Stefanski has wrapped up what appears a five-star summer of hirings.
If you checked out when the curtain fell on the debut Little Caesars Arena season, you might have missed the details. Here’s how Stefansk has spent the past three months.