As reported by Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News, the Detroit Pistons are likely to see Joe Dumars, their longtime executive and former player, resign from his front office position:
“Dumars has told multiple sources within the NBA that he plans to resign — possibly as soon as this week — after a busy offseason that included the signings of high-priced free agents Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings and led to an underachieving 2013-14 season. The Pistons, who many experts picked to return to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference, are 28-49 and out of playoff contention.”
Pistons owner Tom Gores fired head coach Maurice Cheeks 50 games into this season, which reportedly brought tension since Cheeks was hand-picked by Dumars. We do know from ongoing reports about Gores’ desire to reel in Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo for the Pistons, but there is no public connection to that desire and any speculated tension between Gores and Dumars.
Dumars is of course the only person left from the 2004 championship group, and will certainly be remembered for re-assembling the Pistons’ elite pedigree when he took over basketball operations in 2000. Should he find work elsewhere? Might the Pistons reach out to, say, Isaiah Thomas to replace him? Perhaps we start to find answers closer to the end of the week, when Dumars is said to be stepping down.
