It’s been quite some time since we checked in with Detroit Lions fans regarding their opinion of general manager Brad Holmes. The last time we polled our audience was almost exactly a year ago, following the team’s 2025 NFL Draft. Unfortunately, those poll results were lost to time (and a migration to a new content management system at SB Nation).
Detroit, MI
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Former Detroit Pistons president/head coach Stan Van Gundy believes the team will have a sense of urgency to get better fast this offseason because they are lagging behind other young teams in the NBA.
Van Gundy, in an interview on the WXYT-FM “Restore the Floor” podcast hosted by Mike Stone and Evan Jankens, said the Pistons will have to be aggressive with the roughly $60 million in cap space available this summer because the young core that produced a 14-68 record in the 2023-24 season is not good enough.
“The problem I would think from Detroit’s perspective is what are you going to do with that cap space now?” Van Gundy said last week. “When are you going to try to win? My guess is (owner) Tom Gores wants to get this thing going quickly, they’re not going to sit around and just wait on a young core.
“And I think that’s probably the right approach because Orlando is as young or younger than they are and they’re better than Detroit, San Antonio’s got a brighter future, Oklahoma City is the youngest team in the league by minutes played and they’re the number one seed in the West. So, you might like your core, but it’s clear its not the best young core in the league or even one of the top two or three.”
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Van Gundy said guard Cade Cunningham, the former No. 1 overall pick and Pistons’ leading scorer, is a “really good player” to lead the team, and said the idea of trading him was absurd. But he added the caveat he wasn’t sure if Cunningham was a “superstar.” He also said the roster needs to be upgraded because the other young players on the roster around Cunningham are fourth or fifth starter-level.
“You’re going to have to supplement it as you go along,” Van Gundy said. “I think they got other good pieces. I think (Jalen) Duren is certainly a very good rebounder. (Ausar) Thompson can defend. I personally really like Marcus Sasser. Jaden Ivey I like. But those guys are all either I think low-level starters, fourth or fifth starters, or rotation pieces. They need two other guys, at least two other guys to put with Cade Cunningham to have a chance to get better.”
[ MUST LISTEN: Make “The Pistons Pulse” your go-to Detroit Pistons podcast, available anywhere you listen to podcasts (Apple, Spotify) or watch live/on demand on YouTube. ]
Van Gundy then said the moves are easy to point out from an outside perspective. The hard part will be figuring out how to actually get it done, because he thinks it is imperative to upgrade the roster around Cunningham as soon as possible.
“The hard part is figuring out how to get that done and add two really good pieces around Cade Cunningham,” Van Gundy said. “But I think they’re making a mistake if they think any of those other guys are good enough to be second or third players on a contending-type team.”
ANALYSIS: How long will Pistons stay in the weeds? That’s up to Tom Gores, and a little luck
Van Gundy spent four years with the Pistons from 2014-18, leading them to the playoffs once and a 152-176 record. He went 31-41 in his lone season coaching the New Orleans Pelicans in 2020-21, and currently serves as a game analyst for the NBA on TNT.
On the podcast appearance, Van Gundy said misses in the draft coupled with impatience with the timeline and the resulting moves were the ultimate reason for failure during his Pistons tenure as president and coach.
“I think we did more positive things than we got credit for but you’re there to win and we didn’t put enough together to get that done,” Van Gundy said. “And I’ve gotta take the full responsibility for that.”
The Pistons have a crucial offseason ahead after completing the worst season in franchise history, despite amassing a collection of lottery picks leading the team. The Pistons’ pending incoming president of basketball operations will oversee the path forward, and help decide the fate of general manager Troy Weaver and head coach Monty Williams.
4Warn Weather – SATURDAY: Mostly cloudy skies. A chance of showers and thunderstorms. A few storms could be strong with gusty winds and hail. High: 71.
SATURDAY NIGHT: Mostly cloudy skies, becoming partly cloudy skies late. Low: 45.
SUNDAY (MOTHER’S DAY): Mix of sunshine and clouds, cooler temperatures. High: 61.
SUNDAY NIGHT: Partly cloudy skies. Another chilly night. Low: 41.
MONDAY: Mostly sunny skies, remaining chilly. High: 58.
After a beautiful end to the week on Friday with sunshine and a little cloud cover, with warmer temperatures moving into the region as well, some of us are waking up to some patchy dense fog on Saturday morning. Some places south of M-59 are seeing reduced visibilities down to around a mile. If you do run into some patchy dense fog, be sure to use your low beams.
That warming trend continues into the start of the weekend on Saturday, but it also brings a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will work through the region by Saturday afternoon and early Saturday evening and that will bring our thunderstorm chance. High temperature is warming into low 70s by Saturday afternoon.
The Storm Prediction Center has placed most of the region under a Marginal Risk (1 out of 5) on our severe weather scale for the start of the weekend. Gusty winds and hail are the primary threats as we work through the start of the weekend, but this will not be a widespread threat for severe thunderstorms.
Behind that cold front for the end of the weekend on Sunday, we will keep a mixture of sunshine and clouds into the forecast. High temperatures running about 10 to 15° cooler to end the weekend. Expect high to warm into the upper 50s to lower 60s by Sunday afternoon.
Drier weather sticks around for the start of next week, before another chance of rain moves into the region by the time we get to Tuesday. The cooler-than-average temperatures will continue into the start of next week as well. Expect high temperatures to remain in the 50s for Monday and Tuesday.
Temperature start to warm up by the middle of next week, and Drier weather moves back in by Wednesday behind another cold front moving into the region. Expect high temperatures into the lower 60s on Wednesday to warm into the upper 60s by the time we get to Thursday. Above average temperatures move back into the region as we look ahead into the end of the week, expect high temperatures back into the lower 70s by the time we get to Friday.
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But as you can see below, Holmes has been an extremely popular figure among Detroit sports fans for pretty much his entire career.
Although, if there was a time when Holmes’ popularity took a hit, it was likely during the 2025 NFL season, when the Lions took their first clear step back since he and Dan Campbell came to town.
Since last year’s data was lost to time, this is a good opportunity to check back in with Lions fans. While Holmes certainly deserves a ton of credit for getting the Lions back to relevancy and helping them produce four consecutive seasons with winning records, there are some serious blemishes on his resumé now. The 2024 NFL Draft class has not lived up to his high standards through two seasons, some of his riskiest picks over the last few years have all failed to pay off, and last year’s roster just wasn’t good enough to withstand the injuries.
But Holmes is also coming off a very crowd-pleasing draft. Detroit addressed their two biggest needs with their first two selections, and there were no crazy head-scratching picks or expensive trade ups. Many have categorized his latest draft as “back to business as usual,” which could have some fans he lost back on his side.
However, that is all up to you. Vote on your thoughts about Holmes’ time in Detroit below, and share your extended thoughts in the comment section at the bottom of the page.
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