Source: Dumars Out as Pistons President
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Jed Jacobson/Getty Images(AUBURN HILLS, Mich.) — After 15 years with the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars is reportedly out as the team President. That’s according to a source close to the situation that says the team has opted not to renew Dumars’ contract at the conclusion of this season but that he will remain with the franchise in an advisory role.
Dumars was named the NBA Executive of the Year in 2003 and followed that up by watching the Pistons win a world championship in 2004. However, Detroit has not made the playoffs since 2009 and efforts to revamp the roster have failed, including this year.
The Pistons traded for Brandon Jennings in the offseason while also signing Josh Smith in an attempt to bolster the team’s ability and compete in the lowly Eastern conference. However, Maurice Cheeks was fired in February and Detroit has a 29-52 record heading into the final game of the season.
Dumars took over as the president and General Manager in 2000 and brought in Ben Wallace and Richard Hamilton while trading away such staples as Grant Hill and Jerry Stackhouse. He was also responsible for adding such stars as Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups, building a roster that would defeat the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals in 2004.
Since then, the biggest struggles for the Pistons has been finding the right coach. Cheeks was the team’s ninth coach since the 1999-2000 season and has seen names like Lawrence Frank and John Kuester come and go with little success.
A 1985 draft pick of the Pistons, Dumars played his entire 14-year career with Detroit, winning NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. He later became the vice president of player personnel in 1999-2000, earning a promotion the following season.
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