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For four years, Troy Weaver built perhaps the worst roster in the NBA with little in the way of cap space or future assets while working as the general manager of the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit finally parted ways with Weaver following a disastrous 2023-24 season that ended with him threatening fans.
But it didn’t take long for Weaver to find work again in the NBA, as the lowly Washington Wizards decided to hire Weaver as a “senior advisor” on Monday according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
ESPN Sources: Longtime NBA executive Troy Weaver is joining the Washington Wizards’ front office as Senior Advisor. Story: https://t.co/e8BPNYNxmx
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 24, 2024
Detroit hired Weaver in 2020. He came to the Motor City after a wildly successful stint in Oklahoma City where he was the driving force behind the team drafting Russell Westbrook.
The Pistons were coming off a 20-46 season under second-year head coach Dwayne Casey and had the No. 7 overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft.
“This isn’t a rebuild — it’s a restoring,” Weaver said at his introductory press conference.
That “restoring” began with Killian Hayes, whom Weaver selected with that aforementioned No. 7 pick. Hayes is no longer in the NBA.
Detroit had the second-worst record in the league in Weaver’s first year, which isn’t necessarily his fault. They won the NBA Draft lottery and selected consensus top prospect Cade Cunningham.
Cunningham has been solid, if unspectacular, in his first few seasons in the league. But the Pistons went just 23-59 in his first year, the third-worst record in the league.
They dropped to No. 5 in the 2022 NBA Draft and took guard Jaden Ivey, missing out on young stars Paolo Banchero and Chet Holmgren. Though Weaver did trade for promising young center Jalen Duren.
Ivey struggled as a rookie at Detroit went a putrid 17-65 in 2022-23. That gave Detroit the best odds at the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft and a chance at generational prospect Victor Wembanyama.
Instead, the Pistons fell to No. 5 and selected wildly athletic yet extremely raw forward Ausar Thompson.
Detroit also gave Monty Williams a record-breaking six-year deal to replace Casey.
Thomspon looked wildly out of his depth as a rookie. Detroit went on a record-tying 28-game losing streak, and Williams was bought out of the last five years of his deal. The Pistons still owe him $65 million.
Weaver’s 74-244 record and .233 win percentage as Pistons GM is the eighth-worst mark for an executive in NBA history, according to Basketball Reference.
So now Washington, which has been similarly putrid in recent years, has a plan.
It is bringing in Weaver, an historically bad executive, to clean up its mess.
Good luck, Wizards fans.