NBA News: Joe Dumars to Quit As Detroit Pistons GM After The Season
The Dumars era in Detroit is over.
Dumars will resign as general manager and team president of the Detroit Pistons when the 2013-2014 NBA season is over. Various news outlets have confirmed the reports that former Pistons great have told multiple sources that indeed he will be stepping down from his position as the Pistons GM.
Dumars is very popular in Detroit after leading the Pistons along with backcourt partner Isiah Thomas to two championships in 1989 and 1990. He did it again as a general manager in 2004 when he built a team around Rasheed Wallace, Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Chauncey Billups
That was the last good run for Dumars’ Detroit. They lost in the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 and slowly Dumars decimated the championship core to start an elongated rebuilding process.
The rebuild took a major hit this season after recent offseason signings did not pan out.
The Pistons signed Josh Smith ($56 million/4 years) and Brandon Jennings ($24M/3 years) to lengthy and potentially toxic contracts and it only produced a 28-49 win-loss card— far from the team’s target of making the postseason for the first time since 2009.
Other perceived mistakes Dumars did as GM were the signing Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to long-term deals in previous years. Another infamous blunder was picking center Darko Milicic as 2nd overall pick in the 2004 NBA Draft where Dumars passed on talents like Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.