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Just this morning SI's Chris Mannix tweeted that talks between the Golden State Warriors and Stan Van Gundy were "moving towards a deal".
Later, Yahoo's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Detroit Pistons was offering Van Gundy control over basketball decisions and suddenly and, at the very least, that has given the former Orlando Magic coach something to think about.
Van Gundy has expressed a strong interest in the Warriors' opening, but it's immediately unclear how intrigued he is with the pursuit of Pistons owner Tom Gores.
The Pistons have a far less appealing roster, but the chance for Van Gundy to build his own organization is a challenge the Warriors can't offer him.
These are certainly not conflicting reports - it's quite possible that they literally occurred in rapid succession, making Mannix's report at 6 a.m. as valid as the later reports about Detroit complicating Van Gundy's decision.
However, what's not entirely clear at this point is how much that Detroit offer of greater power will impact the Warriors' pursuit of Van Gundy because there are somewhat conflicting reports on Twitter about that.
NBA source: Stan Van Gundy told the Warriors he wanted total control of basketball decisions. They declined. He could get that in DET.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 13, 2014
I don't know if the Warriors and Van Gundy can re-open discussions. Doesn't sound like they will.
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) May 13, 2014
Stan Van Gundy's seriously considering Pistons offer of full control, torn on that opportunity vs. coaching Warriors, sources tell Yahoo.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 13, 2014
The usually-reliable Wojnarowski's report of "torn" is obviously a very different scenario than Tim Kawakami's report that the two sides can't re-open discussions.
[UPDATE: Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News has tweeted that Van Gundy could agree on a deal with the Pistons in the next 24-48 hours (h/t SigEpWarrior in the comments below)]
In any event, just on paper, gaining any control over the Warriors' basketball decisions is a long-shot request because Bob Myers is already in place as general manager (whereas both coach and GM positions are open in Detroit). In practice, the influence of owner Joe Lacob as well as the voice of Jerry West could be enough to ward off any coach interested in control, especially depending on what their perception of the Mark Jackson situation was; "control" is probably not a word anyone would use as an attribute of the Warriors' head coach position right now, fair or not.
Becoming head coach of the Warriors is the utter opposite of being given total control.
— RealGM (@RealGM) May 13, 2014
If indeed the matter of control is a deal-breaker for Van Gundy, Lionel Hollins appears to be the next interview and then they'll have to dig deeper into that list of candidates. Chicago Bulls assistant Adrian Griffin is apparently another name on the Warriors' list that hadn't been mentioned previously, according to Sam Amick and Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today.
However, Wojnarowski is also not ruling out the Warriors re-visiting Steve Kerr as a candidate if his talks with the New York Knicks break down although Ian Begley of ESPN New York reported just last night that, "...it appears that Kerr is deciding between coaching the Knicks and returning to work as a broadcaster for TNT."
As Knicks-Steve Kerr lock in staredown over deal terms, Golden State will go hard at Kerr again if Van Gundy takes Detroit, sources say.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) May 13, 2014
Then there's still the Mike D'Antoni option.
Re: Warriors hiring D'Antoni if SVG no longer an option. RT @JRAM_91: @JonesOnTheNBA Most fans would hate it, but it'd be a smart hire.
— Nate Jones (@JonesOnTheNBA) May 13, 2014
In other words, nothing is solid right now except what we've already known: the Warriors' top two choices are probably still Kerr and Van Gundy, who are both using the Warriors for leverage weighing the Warriors' opportunity with other options (including not coaching at all).
Ultimately, as Kawakami has stressed throughout this thing, this could be a long process for the Warriors but thus far it has been less due to their own due diligence than candidates choosing to take offers elsewhere.
For more on the ins and outs of the Warriors coaching search, check out our storystream.