Pistons Quickly Turn to Saunders

Flip Saunders’ new team is Larry Brown’s old one.

The Detroit Pistons wasted no time Wednesday replacing their deposed bench leader, hiring the former coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves to a four-year contract worth about $20 million plus incentives.

The hiring of Saunders and the terms of his contract were confirmed by three league sources. The team plans a news conference for today.

Following daylong talks between Piston President Joe Dumars and Saunders’ agent, the deal -- which includes more than $6 million in incentives -- was finalized Wednesday evening.

The deal came about 24 hours after the Pistons reached a severance agreement with Brown, who led Detroit to the NBA Finals in each of the last two seasons -- winning in 2004.

In 9 1/2 seasons with Minnesota, Saunders had a record of 411-326. He took over for Bill Blair in December 1995 and helped turn one of the NBA’s most lackluster franchises into a contender.

He led the Timberwolves to eight straight postseason appearances, but that included seven first-round exits before the breakthrough to the Western Conference finals two seasons ago. Last season, however, the Timberwolves struggled over the first three months of the season before Saunders was fired.

Meanwhile, Piston owner Bill Davidson provided some insight into Brown’s departure in an interview with WDIV-TV.

Parting ways with Brown “was kind of easy,” Davidson said. “There was too much Larry Brown and not enough Pistons. I wasn’t happy with that. You’ve got to understand that whoever coaches the Pistons represents me. And I’m not going to give [the team and their fans] somebody that’s not a good person.”

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Meanwhile, Brown’s agent said he expected the coach to make a decision on his future in the next couple of weeks, and the New York Knicks are already wooing him.

Knick President Isiah Thomas spoke to Brown by telephone Tuesday night, only hours after the Pistons announced he wouldn’t return.

“They talked and agreed to meet in person in the next few days,” Knick spokesman Joe Favorito said. The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that the Knicks were prepared to offer Brown as much as $60 million over five years.

“It’s too soon to have any discussions along those lines. The ink hasn’t even dried yet,” said Brown’s agent, Joe Glass, about the severance agreement with the Pistons. “I’m hoping he’ll take advantage of the time off, relax, refresh and revitalize.

“I don’t think it’ll be a couple of months. I think it’ll be a couple of weeks. It certainly won’t be a couple of days.”

Brown underwent two major surgical procedures during the season, then had a third procedure to deal with a bladder condition after the Finals.

Herb Williams remains the Knicks’ interim coach.