Was Joe Dumars Ever a Good GM?

Why is the NBA offseason so much more exciting than the regular season? While most people could care less about watching a Memphis Grizzlies game it's pretty damn entertaining to watch Chris Wallace wheel and deal. Yes, Zach Randolph will finally mature and become a team player in Memphis. I'm sure he'll be a great mentor for Rudy Gay and OJ Mayo. Hopefully he won't throw a punch at Hasheem Thabeet.

Enough of Chris Wallace (who tried to ruin the Celtics) let's move on to Joe Dumars and the Detroit Pistons. Dumars led the Pistons to six straight Eastern Conference Finals and they even won a title, yet the way he's drafted and made deals it's almost impossible to remember the Pistons were a good team. 

Ok so drafting Darko Milicic did not work out (but at least it led to this) and it's been well-documented, but what is he doing this offseason. Dumars had the PG of the future on his team in Rodney Stuckey so he decided to take a chance and free up cap space. Got rid of Chauncey Billups lengthy contract and took a flier on AI. That worked out so well that AI has no suitors in free agency and Dumars had to fire his head coach just so Richard Hamilton would not demand a trade. 

So the Pistons got rid of Billups (who went on to lead Denver to a deep run in the Western Conference) just to free up cap space to sign Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to five year deals?!?! In the current economy teams have been hesitant to make moves and most guys are finding out that teams are limited in what they can spend. Yet Detroit goes out there and spends money like Jerry West did when Brian Cardinal hit free agency. Here's a quote from the article: "

Grizzlies president Jerry West, who has a reputation for spotting undervalued talent, called Cardinal 'an excellent all-around player.'" Please feel free to insert your own joke here.

How does this work for the Pistons? A disappointing Stuckey at PG, a frustrated Rip at SG (he still might demand a trade unless the Pistons sign Khalid El-Amin), Tayshaun at SF (I'm telling you now Tayshaun will not re-sign with the Pistons after this season and that's why Dumars drafted Austin Daye...), Villanueva at PF and Kwame Brown at Center? Or do the Pistons go small and start Stuckey, Gordon, Rip and play three guards cause that works about as much as closer by committee works. So the Pistons just dropped 5 years $55 million on Gordon to be instant offense off the bench? I mean the guy is good no question about it and he torched the Celtics in the 1st round but I feel like Dumars forgot what won him a title. Where's the defense in that starting lineup other than Prince? On top of that the team will have Gordon light it up off the bench with the likes of Jason Maxiell and Will Bynum oooooooooooooh.

Villanueva's deal I have no issues with. He's 24, very long and just offensively gifted plus he's a force to be reckoned with on Twitter. His deal is also quite reasonable and fills a need for them. Villanueva will now become Detroit's best player with no eyebrows, but hey at least he'll Tweet at halftime.

On a pathetic side note I spent a good 20 minutes talking my buddy Steve on Gchat while we both hit refresh here making jokes about obscure American basketball players currently in Turkey. Keep looking in the top right corner in case you're as pathetic as we are!