Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars says John Kuester will back next season

Pistons’ Dumars says Kuester to return as coach

DETROIT — The president of basketball operations for the Detroit Pistons says John Kuester will be back to coach the team next season.

Detroit won its final game of the season Wednesday to finish with a 27-55 record in Kuester’s first year as an NBA coach. The Pistons missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001.

Joe Dumars, the club’s head of basketball operations, fired Michael Curry last year after only one season, which ended with a first-round loss to Cleveland.

The Pistons expected to endure a rebuilding season, but no one expected it be their worst since the 1993-94 season when Dumars was in the middle of his Hall of Fame career.

Dumars says injuries led to a disappointing season.

He hopes to re-sign free agents Ben Wallace and Will Bynum during a productive offseason.