Palace Sports & Entertainment Vice Chair Arn Tellem on Tuesday arrived at the Palace of Auburn Hills "as the guy team owner Tom Gores hopes will be the key final piece of a management triumvirate on the ground in Michigan that returns the Pistons to a place among the NBA's most admired franchises," according to Tom Walsh of the DETROIT FREE PRESS. Tellem said of his new position, "I'm coming here to make a difference. If it was just limited to basketball, it would not be enough of a motivation to come and do it." He "expects to acquire an ownership stake in the Pistons later this year, now that Gores has consolidated ownership of the team." Tellem: "That was part of the plan when I came in." Tellem "repeated earlier assertions by both him and Gores that the Pistons are committed to the Palace as their home; there's no plan to join the Red Wings in the arena now being built by the Ilitch family for the hockey team in Midtown." Tellem acknowledged that he is there to "explore a wide range of projects and partnerships that could include the Pistons playing some basketball games in Detroit, television contracts and sponsorships, and philanthropic activities in the community" (DETROIT NEWS, 9/11).
