Update: Well, that didn't take long: David Stern confirmed before Game 1 that Gores was approved by the league's board of governors.
It's been nearly two months since Tom Gores and Platinum Equity announced the agreement to purchase the Detroit Pistons and the rest of the Palace Sports and Entertainment empire from Karen Davidson, and on Wednesday, the ink may finally dry. This news was initially reported over the weekend by ESPN and confirmed by Vince Ellis of the Free Press:
Tom Gores could assume control of the Detroit Pistons as soon as Wednesday.
It’s expected — but not certain — that the NBA Board of Governors will vote to approve Gores’ purchase of the Pistons from current owner Karen Davidson.
Gores needs the votes of 23 of the league’s 30 owners, and it’s pretty clear that the formality of the ownership change will occur soon.
Whenever word comes, there will be a news conference. Don’t expect any major announcements about the team at that moment — it’s expected to just be an introduction of Gores and his Platinum Equity team to Detroit.
While Gores officially taking the reins is a big accomplishment, at this point it's also a mere formality. The "major announcements" fans are waiting to hear concern the future of Joe Dumars and John Kuester. All signs point to Dumars being safe -- and if Dumars is present at the press conference, it's probably safe to assume that is the case.
But Kuester, of course, is a completely different story. The LA Times recently reported that Mike Brown wants Kuester to join his new staff in Los Angeles, and ESPN piled on over the weekend by citing anonymous sources confirming the Pistons would not bring Kuester back. Maybe that's true, maybe it's not, but as of Sunday afternoon, Kuester had not been informed of his future, according to Vince Ellis. Stay tuned.