Account
Joe Dumars Resigns as Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations
April 8, 2014
Updates from Monday, April 14
Joe Dumars has officially resigned as Detroit Pistons president of basketball operations, the team announced:
Updates from Sunday, April 13
Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News has the latest on Joe Dumars and the Pistons:
Original Text
Longtime Detroit Pistons executive Joe Dumars is reportedly set to resign from his position as the team's president of basketball operations after a fifth straight season without making the playoffs.
Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News reports the 50-year-old former Pistons guard has already told several people around the league about his plan to step down. Official word on the decision could come as soon as this week.
The report notes the dismissal of Maurice Cheeks, whom Dumars chose to lead the team, by owner Tom Gores was a point of contention:
Pistons owner Tom Gores had expected before the season that the team would return to the playoffs.
Gores fired Dumars' hand-picked coach, Maurice Cheeks, after just 50 games, making it one of the top-five quickest firings in the last 20 years. After Dumars tried to save Cheeks' job, according to an NBA source. It became clear the two sides, bound together by circumstance, were headed for divorce.
Goodwill also passed along comments from ESPN's Stephen A. Smith about the type of legacy Dumars will have in Detroit if he does walk away. The NBA analyst believes it will be a positive one:
Assuming that he resigns, (his legacy is) simple. I think that when the dust clears, he'll be known as an elite executive and champion. Championships as a player and a coach.
Two straight Finals and six straight conference finals as an executive. This man knew how, showed how, to build a team, showed how to keep guys together and focused on the prize.
Dumars had a lot of success during his time in Detroit as both a player and as part of the front office. He helped lead the Pistons to back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990. He was also a six-time All-Star and made the All-NBA defensive first team four times.
Shortly after his playing career ended, he moved into the basketball operations role. He gained a reputation for finding undervalued commodities like Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups and turning them into a successful group.
The success faded in recent years, however. The Pistons haven't qualified for the postseason since the 2008-09 season, when they were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers. And even for somebody with Dumars' track record, that type of extended drought is going to become an issue.
David Mayo of MLive.com previously provided remarks from Gores, who admitted the front-office situation was going to get addressed this offseason. "Yeah, after the season, we're going to address it right away," he said. "We have to. We have to let the season play out, then we've got to get it done."
It sounds like Dumars is prepared to make his own decision before leaving his fate in Gores' hands once the season comes to a close.
Looking ahead, it might not be long before he finds himself in the running for a place with another franchise. Kenny Roda of CBS Cleveland notes Dumars is one of the names being bandied about for the Cleveland Cavaliers' president position:
It's unclear whether that position would intrigue him immediately after leaving the Pistons. Either way, Dumars has enjoyed enough success in building the Pistons to generate interest should he decide to continue in the NBA, whether it be as a president or in another role.
As for now, his run in Detroit is apparently nearing its conclusion.
