Pistons' search lags
From Wire Reports
Sunday, July 05, 2009

Another day passes, and the Pistons are still in the market for a head coach.

And as of Friday, it still appears that former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson is the favorite to replace Michael Curry , a Glenn Hills graduate, with Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester as the only other known candidate. Former Pistons coach Doug Collins withdrew his name from consideration earlier this week.

Johnson fits Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars ' stated goal of hiring an experienced coach, but snags could crop up.

Johnson has a career winning percentage of nearly 75 percent and was once two wins from an NBA title. That could make Johnson's asking price a bit steep, and if that happens, Dumars could turn to Kuester, 54, a longtime assistant who has never been a head coach at the professional level but was a member of Larry Brown 's staff in 2004 when the Pistons won the title.

Or Dumars could expand his search, but that would seem to jeopardize his stated goal of having a coach in place by the time the team leaves for summer league play in Las Vegas next week.

RAPTORS: Free agent Hedo Turkoglu will join the team after spurning the Portland Trail Blazers, according to multiple reports.

The 6-foot-10 forward helped the Orlando Magic reach the NBA Finals last season. On Friday, a person close to the Blazers confirmed that Turkoglu ended contract talks with them. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the negotiations.

Turkoglu opted out of his Orlando contract last week when the team acquired Vince Carter from New Jersey. Turkoglu was due $7.3 million next season, the final year of his $36 million, 6-year deal with Orlando. He averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 rebounds last season.

From the Sunday, July 05, 2009 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
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