If you can't beat 'em ...

Brown signs with team that knocked him out of playoffs

Larry Brown's six-year stint with the 76ers was his longest with any team in his 31-year coaching career. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

ATLANTA (SI.com) -- Larry Brown has agreed to a five-year, $25 million deal to be the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, reports SI.com's Jack McCallum.

The Pistons, who fired head coach Rick Carlisle on Friday, will announce the hiring at a news conference Monday. Pistons spokesman Matt Dobek said the team would introduce its new head coach Monday at a 2 p.m. ET news conference at The Palace of Auburn Hills.

According to a team source, the Pistons were not considering a coaching change until Brown announced he was leaving the Philadelphia 76ers after six seasons. Once management determined Brown would take the job, Carlisle was let go. According to the source, the Pistons would not have fired Carlisle for anyone other than Brown.

Carlisle, who had one year left on his contract, led the Pistons to a 50-win season and a spot in the conference finals for the first time since 1991. Detroit's playoff run ended May 24, when the Pistons were swept by the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference finals.

Carlisle led the Pistons to a 100-64 regular-season record the last two seasons and Detroit went 12-15 in two playoff runs. He was honored as NBA Coach of the Year for the 2001-02 season.

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"It was not an easy decision at all," Joe Dumars, Pistons' president of basketball operations, said during a news conference Saturday.

Brown resigned as Philadelphia's coach May 26. The 76ers released the Hall of Famer from a contractual clause that prohibited him from coaching another NBA team if he left Philadelphia prematurely.

"Larry Brown is obviously a great coach and his record speaks for itself," Carlisle said Sunday. "That's a great hire."

Carlisle was asked if he thought Brown was hired before he was fired.

"I'm not going to get into that," Carlisle said.

Pistons spokesman Kevin Grigg said Sunday he could not confirm a news conference would be held.

Brown's job with the 76ers was his longest tenure with any team in his 31-year coaching career. He led them to the playoffs five straight seasons, including the 2001 NBA Finals, and will coach the U.S. men's national team this summer at an Olympic qualifying tournament in Puerto Rico.

He has a 879-685 record in the NBA, and 1,285-853 overall, including ABA and college. Brown won an NCAA championship with Kansas in 1988, and became the first coach to take six NBA teams to the playoffs when the 76ers made it in 1999.

The Pistons have the No. 2 pick in the June 26 NBA Draft, thanks to a 6-year-old trade with Memphis for Otis Thorpe.

 

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.