Pistons lose head of analytics Sachin Gupta to the Timberwolves

The Detroit Pistons are losing their head of analytics, Sachin Gupta, to the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he has been named Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations.

Shams Charania of The Athletic was first to confirm the news.

Gupta, who previously spent time with the Philadelphia 76ers and Houston Rockets as well as at ESPN, where he invented the Trade Machine, joins new Minnesota GM Gersson Rosas’ team. Rosas spent 17 years in Houston and knows Gupta well.

Gupta was one of Ed Stefanski’s first hires as he looked to remake the Pistons’ front office in the wake of the ouster of Stan Van Gundy.

Instead of a traditional structure of a president of basketball operations, a GM and assistant and associate GMs, the Pistons have Stefanski on top as a senior adviser to Tom Gores. Stefanski then hired a group that reported directly to him — Gupta (analytics), Pat Garrity (finance and contracts), Gregg Polinksy (scouting) and Malik Rose as an assistant GM who is billed as a possible heir apparent when and if Stefanski steps aside.

The Detroit Free Press reports that the team is currently discussing if and how to fill the vacancy left behind by Gupta’s departure, and that the front office will soon meet with owner Tom Gores.