Patience paid off for Flip Saunders.
After being fired in February by Minnesota, Saunders took some time to assess different job possibilities. When the Detroit Pistons finalized a $7 million severance package with Larry Brown earlier this week, Saunders knew he'd found the opportunity he'd been waiting for.
"I was really fortunate in the past five months to wait and evaluate situations," Saunders said being introduced as Detroit's new coach Thursday in Auburn Hills, Mich. "I was going to wait and get into the right situation to walk into and have an opportunity to win and to win big, and that's what we have here."
Less than 24 hours after Brown's departure, Saunders and the Pistons agreed to a four-year, $20 million contract with incentives that could add more than $6 million. But with his new opportunity comes high expectations. Saunders is replacing a Hall of Famer and taking over a team that has made two straight appearances in the NBA Finals.
"I've been in situations where I've taken bad teams and moved them in the right direction. In those situations, there is no pressure," Saunders said. "Would it have been easy for me to take another job and not have as much (pressure)? Pressure is what you put on yourself. I don't really feel any pressure walking into a situation."
Saunders compiled a record of 411-326 in 9 1/2 seasons with Minnesota and helped turn one of the NBA's most lackluster franchises into a contender. He led the Timberwolves to eight straight postseason appearances — and seven first-round exits before a breakthrough to the Western Conference finals two years ago.
Last season, the Timberwolves struggled over the first three months of the season under Saunders and ended up missing the playoffs under interim coach Kevin McHale.
The Pistons don't have a big-time scorer on their roster like Saunders had with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Detroit expects to return the same starting lineup — guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, forwards Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince and center Ben Wallace — that won the 2004 title and came within a game of a second straight crown last month.
"When you have a team like we have right now, it's very important the person that you're handing the team over to is qualified and is going to have your respect from day one," said Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations. "I'm very comfortable, Mr. D (owner William Davidson) is very comfortable, we're all very, very comfortable handing the keys to this team over to Flip. We know he's up for the challenge."
Saunders will be asked to maintain the production of the starting five while developing younger players like guards Carlos Arroyo and Carlos Delfino and post player Darko Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in 2003 who failed to make great strides under Brown.
Saunders was a candidate in recent weeks for vacant NBA coaching jobs in New York, Cleveland and Milwaukee, but he waited for the Pistons job to open up.
There were financial factors that allowed Saunders to be patient — namely the Timberwolves' obligation to pay him more than $5 million for the upcoming season. His deal with Detroit will be worth four times that amount at a minimum, with incentives that could add more than $6 million.
BROWN, ISIAH MEET: Speeding up his courtship of Larry Brown, New York Knicks president Isiah Thomas met Thursday night with the 64-year-old unemployed coach. The meeting began in the evening near Brown's summer home in East Hampton, N.Y., and a Knicks spokesman said the only two participants were Thomas and Brown.
It was unclear whether the Knicks already were prepared to offer a contract to Brown, who reached a severance agreement with the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
Thomas has made no secret of his desire to hire Brown, who would be coaching his eighth different NBA team if he accepts the job. Brown has expressed reservations in recent days about possibly nudging New York interim coach Herb Williams out of a job, and one of the challenges for Thomas will be to address Brown's concerns on that matter.
A message seeking comment was left Thursday for Brown. The Knicks said they would make no further public statements until today.
Another challenge for Brown — if he takes the job — will be to coexist with point guard Stephon Marbury after they clashed on the 2004 U.S. Olympic men's basketball team that finished a disappointing third in Athens.
Aside from drafting three new players, Thomas has made two major personnel changes during the offseason by trading forward/center Kurt Thomas to Phoenix for Quentin Richardson and reaching an agreement with free agent center Jerome James.
The moves have turned the Knicks, who missed the playoffs last season with a 33-49 record, into a younger team — a factor that some have suggested could work against them because of Brown's preference for working with veteran players.
NETS AGREE WITH PAIR: Free agent forward Shareef Abdur-Rahim has agreed to play for the New Jersey Nets, a person familiar with the negotiations said Thursday.
The Nets also have reached agreement with forward Clifford Robinson, the person within the league said on condition of anonymity.
Contract terms were not available.
Free agent deals cannot be officially announced until the league's new collective bargaining agreement is signed, something expected to occur within the next week.
The 6-foot-9 Abdur-Rahim played in 54 games last season for Portland, averaging 16.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. In a nine-year career with Vancouver, Atlanta and the Trail Blazers, he has averaged 19.8 points and 8.1 rebounds.
The Nets acquired the 6-foot-10 Robinson from Golden State in February for two second-round draft picks, and he averaged 6 points and 3.3 rebounds in 29 games.