Report: Pistons assistant GM headed to Spurs

During the offseason, the Pistons have solidified their bench with key picks in free agency and through the draft.

Now Pistons president Stan Van Gundy and general manager Jeff Bower will have to do some work in filling in the front office.

Assistant general manager Brian Wright is leaving the organization to be the second in charge under San Antonio Spurs GM R.C. Buford, according to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports’ The Vertical.

Wright has been with the Pistons since 2014 and was in charge of college scouting, helping the team assess draft picks such as Stanley Johnson, Darrun Hilliard, Henry Ellenson and Michael Gbinije.

It’s the next step in a precipitous ascent for Wright, who spent eight seasons with the Orlando Magic, beginning as a summer intern in 2006. He became a scouting coordinator later year and progressed to scouting manager and scouting/development manager three years ago, before joining the Pistons with Van Gundy.

Wright played college basketball at La Sierra University in California and earned an MBA in sports business management at Central Florida.

Another Pistons assistant GM, Ken Catanella, left the team in April to join the Sacramento Kings and was replaced by Pat Garrity. Two other Spurs assistant GMs, Sean Marks and Scott Layden, took jobs with the Brooklyn Nets and Minnesota Timberwolves, respectively.

rod.beard@detroitnews.com

twitter.com/detnewsrodbeard