Joe Dumars Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pistons, Joe Dumars Part Ways

April 14th, 2014 at 10:49am CST by Chuck Myron

The Pistons have officially announced via press release that Joe Dumars “will step aside” from his job as president of basketball operations, effective immediately. That suggests that Dumars tendered his resignation, as he’d reportedly planned to do, though reports Sunday indicated the team had told Dumars they wouldn’t renew his contract, which was set to expire in the offseason. In any case, the move ends Dumars’ nearly 14-year tenure atop the Pistons basketball operations department. He’ll remain with the team as an adviser, as expected. Director of basketball operations Ken Catanella and assistant GM George David will assume the responsibilities that had been Dumars’ while the club searches for a formal replacement.

“Joe Dumars is a great champion who has meant so much to this franchise and this community,” Pistons owner Tom Gores said in the team’s statement. “We are turning the page with great respect for what he has accomplished not only as a player and a front office executive, but as a person who has represented this team and the NBA with extraordinary dignity.”

The 50-year-old Dumars was the longest-tenured executive in charge of day-to-day basketball operations in the league, with the possible exception of Pat Riley, who’s split much of his more than 18 years with the Heat between the front office and coaching. Dumars became president of basketball operations in Detroit in June of 2000, and he’s been with the Pistons in some capacity since 1985, when he began his Hall of Fame playing career with the club. His time as an executive included the 2004 championship and six straight conference finals appearances, but also the drafting of Darko Milicic at No. 2 overall in 2003 and an ongoing string of five non-playoff seasons.

“It’s time to turn the page on a wonderful chapter and begin writing a new one,” Dumars said as part of the press release. “I’ve had the pleasure of working with some great people throughout the last 29 years as both a player and executive, and I’m proud of our accomplishments. Tom Gores and ownership is committed to winning and they will continue to move the franchise forward.”

Dumars will reportedly have the ability to seek GM jobs with other NBA clubs, and he figures to be much sought after. A report earlier today indicated he already has a gig lined up with another team. The Pistons have already begun their search process for a new head of basketball operations as well as a new coach, since John Loyer is filling in only on an interim basis for Maurice Cheeks, whom the team fired in February.

Gores has appointed a pair of executives with Platinum Equity, his investment firm, to oversee the club’s searches. Those execs, Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth, will also supervise Catanella and David, and Norment, in the team release, says the club has developed a preliminary list of candidates to replace Dumars.

Latest On Pistons, Joe Dumars

April 14th, 2014 at 9:08am CST by Chuck Myron

The parting of Joe Dumars and the Pistons isn’t coming about via a resignation from Dumars, but rather the team’s decision not to renew his contract, reports David Mayo of MLive. Detroit’s longtime president of basketball operations has accepted the team’s offer to remain as an adviser, as we passed along last night from Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. The Pistons have already begun looking for someone new to lead their basketball operations, Mayo writes, with assistant GM George David set to lead the team in the meantime, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. Director of basketball operations Ken Catanella will also play a leading role in the team’s draft and free agency preparations, Goodwill tweets.

Phil Norment and Bob Wentworth of owner Tom Gores’ Platinum Equity investment firm will lead the search for Dumars’ replacement, according to Mayo, who adds that Gores is looking for stability and someone who, like Dumars, will stay atop the team’s basketball operations for many years. It’ll probably be someone with a background in analytics who won’t shy away from the spotlight and will be the public face of the franchise, Mayo writes.

The Pistons are already screening candidates to become the team’s new head coach, Mayo reports, though it’s unclear if the team is considering interim coach John Loyer for the long-term job. The team is likely to deliver a list of finalists to the new head of basketball operations, who’d make a choice from that list, Mayo adds.

Dumars will serve in a capacity similar to Jerry West‘s job with the Warriors, according to Berger, though Mayo contradicts that, writing that he’ll have a “non-basketball role.” Sharp says Dumars will have no say in the daily operations of the team. Berger says the advisory gig won’t preclude Dumars from seeking a GM job with another NBA team, and Berger’s sources expect him to draw interest from clubs around the league. Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders hears Dumars might have another such job lined up already, though he seconds a tweet from Matt Dery of Detroit Sports 105.1 and says it’s not with the Cavaliers, who were linked to Dumars in February.

Dumars still has the respect of owner Tom Gores, Berger hears, and source tells him the organization considers it important that his dismissal be carried out in a dignified manner. The Pistons consider the appointment of Dumars as an adviser to be a respectful compromise, but still a condemnation of his oversight of the team during five consecutive non-playoff seasons, Sharp writes.

Dumars To Remain With Pistons As Adviser

April 13th, 2014 at 5:58pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Joe Dumars will remain with the Detroit Pistons in a lower capacity after he steps down as general manager, reports Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News (Twitter link). He will serve as an adviser while also being allowed to look for other opportunities according to the post. The 50-year-old Dumars has been with the Pistons as a player or executive since 1985. He took over the basketball operations back in 2000.

It is unsure at this point who Dumars would be advising. The Pistons had shot down rumors back in early March that Isiah Thomas would succeed his former backcourt mate as head of basketball operations for the team, but talk has persisted that Thomas is campaigning for that job. There has also been talk that the team may want to hire Chauncey Billups for the front-office, but the exact role hasn’t been revealed.

On Tuesday it was rumored that Dumars had told multiple people around the league that he intended to resign from his post. The parting between Dumars and the Pistons is no surprise, as rumors about his job security were circulating even before the team fired coach Maurice Cheeks in February.

Joe Dumars Plans To Resign From Pistons

April 8th, 2014 at 8:20am CST by Chuck Myron

Joe Dumars has told multiple people around the league that he intends to resign from his post as Pistons president of basketball operations, reports Vincent Goodwill of The Detroit News. He could step down as soon as this week, Goodwill adds. The imminent parting of ways between Dumars and his longtime team is no surprise, as rumors about his job security were circulating even before the Pistons fired coach Maurice Cheeks in early February.

The 50-year-old Dumars has been with the Pistons as a player or executive since 1985. He took over the basketball operations in 2000, securing Ben Wallace as part of a sign-and-trade for Grant Hill in his first major move. Wallace was the defensive anchor of the 2003/04 team that won the championship, but before that season began, Dumars made his most frequently cited mistake, drafting Darko Milicic second overall while Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were all still available. The Pistons nonetheless made six consecutive appearances in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the team disintegrated after Dumars traded 2004 Finals MVP Chauncey Billups to the Nuggets for Allen Iverson in 2008.

The following summer, Dumars splurged on free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, who didn’t pan out. The Pistons had another spending spree this past offseason, inking Josh Smith to a four-year, $54MM contract and arranging a sign-and-trade for Brandon Jennings, whose deal is for three years and $24MM. Those moves have been similarly disappointing, and this season, in which Detroit has gone 28-49, appears to have been the last straw. Dumars has reportedly grown weary of criticism surrounding his performance, and soon after Gores ordered the firing of Cheeks, whose job Dumars attempted to save, there was news that Dumars might step down after the season, with his contract expiring July 1st.

Disagreements over the coaching position appear to have been a consistent theme for Dumars and Gores, who bought the team in 2011. Dumars wanted to hire Mike Woodson, now coach of the Knicks, when Gores instead brought in Lawrence Frank that year. Also fomenting difficulty was a period of inactivity mandated by Karen Davidson, the widow of former owner Bill Davidson, who had protracted negotiations to sell the team before she and Gores finally reached an agreement.

The Pistons quickly shot down a rumor in early March that Isiah Thomas would succeed his former backcourt mate as head of basketball operations for the team, but chatter has persisted that Thomas is campaigning for that job. The Pistons also reportedly have their eye on making Billups, still an active player for the team, a part of their front office, although it’s not clear if they envision hiring him as the primary front office executive so soon. Billups, like Dumars, is also a rumored candidate for the front office in Cleveland, where owner Dan Gilbert, a Detroit native, calls the shots.

Pistons Rumors: Dumars, D-League, Singler

March 28th, 2014 at 10:52pm CST by Cray Allred

While Isiah Thomas was non-committal in addressing the potential he would join the Pistons in the near future, Detroit’s sitting president of basketball operations Joe Dumars declined to be interviewed at all before the Bad Boys celebration tonight, per Larry Lage of The Associated Press. Dumars has reportedly been on rocky ground all season, with speculation about his job security only growing as the Pistons continue to pile up loses following the firing of former coach Maurice Cheeks. Here’s a roundup of the rest of tonight’s notes out of Detroit:

David Mayo of MLive.com answers a mailbag question about Dumars’ visibility, saying that Dumars is indeed ducking media consistently.
In another answer, the MLive.com scribe says he believes Dumars’ run of decisions that haven’t panned out isn’t abnormal for a long-tenured GM to endure, but thinks that the big contracts given to Charlie Villanueva and Ben Gordon were the most egregious mistakes that could cost Dumars his job.
Answering a question about the Pistons planned one-to-one D-League affiliate, Mayo writes that the new arrangement will give the team a lot more freedom to develop players. Mayo speculates that Detroit will utilize the D-League much more often with the new setup.
Mayo says that Kyle Singler vastly outperforms his $1MM contract, and that the Pistons would love to keep the forward beyond his rookie contract. Singler is eligible to become a restricted free agent before the 2015/16 season.

Pistons Notes: Gores, Dumars, Isiah

March 23rd, 2014 at 8:48am CST by Eddie Scarito

It’s been a tumultuous season in Detroit this year. Team owner Tom Gores expected better than a 25-44 record when he approved the acquisitions of Josh Smith and Brandon Jennings. These expectations not being met led to the firing of coach Maurice Cheeks, and could result in Joe Dumars losing his position as president of basketball operations when his contract expires after this season. Don’t expect the decision on Dumars to linger once the Pistons season is over, writes David Mayo of MLive. Gores said, “Yeah, after the season, we’re going to address it right away. We have to. We have to let the season play out, then we’ve got to get it done.”

Phil Jackson Rumors: Tuesday

March 11th, 2014 at 10:30pm CST by Chuck Myron

Monday it appeared that the Knicks felt they were close to a deal with Phil Jackson, but the Zen Master’s camp didn’t see the talks as nearing completion. We rounded up all the latest from Monday in a single post, and we’ll keep track of today’s updates on Jackson and the Knicks here.

Knicks owner James Dolan has reportedly solicited the help of Bill Bradley as an intermediary in the team’s negotiations with Jackson, says Frank Isola of the New York Daily News. Bradley is Jackson’s longtime friend and former teammate.
Isola adds that Dolan and Bradley have been working together to finalize an agreement that would make Jackson the highest-paid executive in NBA history, with a deal that could pay in excess of $15MM annually.
A source close to Jackson indicates that the two sides have had preliminary discussions about Jackson possibly owning a minority stake in the team.

Earlier updates:

The Knicks have competition for Jackson, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who hears that the Pistons are “very much in the mix” for the Zen Master with Joe Dumars unlikely to return. The Cavs have reached out as well, although their interest is “somewhat muddied” at present, Kyler writes.
Still, it’s “highly unlikely” that Jackson will return to the Lakers, Kyler adds.
Steve Kerr reiterated to Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv today that he would like to coach in the NBA, though he didn’t address the Knicks specifically. If Jackson hires Kerr, Kyler suggests he’ll go after Cavs interim GM David Griffin to run the day-to-day operations for the Knicks.
Reports that Jackson is strongly leaning toward taking the Knicks job are “greatly exaggerated,” a source close to Jackson tells Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio.
The Knicks are “very confident” they’ll finalize a deal with Jackson by the end of the week, though a formal announcement might not come until next week, a source tells Chris Broussard of ESPN.com. The Knicks don’t feel as though Jackson would take a job with the Lakers or another club at this point. Jackson would gain control of the Knicks basketball operations department, displacing Mills, but Mills would remain an “integral” part of the team even if Jackson is hired, Broussard writes.
A source tells Frank Isola of the New York Daily News that the meeting in which Steve Mills spoke to Jackson about coaching the team was a “disaster.” Jackson doesn’t want to work with Mills, the source says. Mills would retain a role of some sort within the organization if Jackson came aboard, but he wouldn’t be active in day-to-day operations, according to Isola. Mills has been committed to the idea of firing Mike Woodson, though he’s against hiring an interim coach and would prefer to go after marquee names in the offseason. Isola identifies John Calipari, Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Tom Thibodeau as likely candidates for a Mills-led search, but it’s unclear if Jackson would go after any of the same.
In any case, it’s clear that owner James Dolan, and not Mills or anyone else in the Knicks organization, is negotiating with Jackson now, Isola writes in a separate piece, adding that the salary on the table for the Zen Master is believed to be $12MM a year. Isola suggests that if Jackson takes the job, he’s “destined” to bring in his own front office staff, including a new general manager to run the day-to-day operations. Isola speculates that Byron Scott and Kurt Rambis could become coaching candidates in this scenario. Still, the Daily News scribe wonders if Jackson is using the Knicks offer to finagle a job with the Lakers, citing general managers from around the league who say that his heart lies with the purple-and-gold.
Marc Berman of the New York Post contradicts Isola with regard to Mills, writing that the current Knicks president and general manager would retain a similar role if Jackson came aboard because of Mills’ aplomb with handling agents. Agents question Jackson’s sincerity, Isola notes.
Berman also writes in his piece that Woodson will probably have to make the second round of the playoffs to keep his job.

And-Ones: Lakers, Jackson, Bulls, ‘Melo

March 7th, 2014 at 5:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Lakers are privately concerned about the quality of the free agent market this summer, and they’re worried about the prospect of a third straight season outside of the title picture next year, Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports. Stein’s note comes within a piece in which he and other ESPN.com writers examine the early-termination option decisions facing LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Most of them believe the quartet of stars, all of whom are in the top 10 of our Free Agent Power Rankings, will indeed become free agents. While we look forward to the summer, here’s the latest from around the league:

Phil Jackson “went out of his way” to clarify in an interview with Sam Amick of USA Today that Joe Dumars made the decision last summer to hire Maurice Cheeks as Pistons coach, Amick writes. Jackson served as a consultant during the team’s coaching search last year, and Amick wonders if the Pistons would make a play to replace Dumars with Jackson, who reportedly has an offer to join the Knicks front office.
The Bulls haven’t begun to seriously crunch the numbers for a pursuit of Carmelo Anthony, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com, downplaying the idea that Chicago is gearing up to chase the Knicks star.
League sources tell Berger that Nikola Mirotic will be seeking salaries worth $3-4MM from the Bulls this summer, as Berger writes in the same piece. That’s a surprise, since an earlier report indicated that Mirotic would probably ask for significantly more than the mid-level exception, worth a starting salary of $5.305MM next season.
The Wolves were in deadline talks about trading J.J. Barea, but they aren’t so eager to get rid of him that they’d waive him this summer and use the stretch provision on his more than $4.5MM salary for next season, tweets Darren Wolfson of 1500 ESPN Twin Cites.

Eastern Notes: Dumars, Turner, Rondo

March 5th, 2014 at 10:20pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com looks at a recent report from Ric Bucher of Bleacher Report about the future of Joe Dumars in Detroit. Dumars is weary of the criticism he has received in trying to rebuild the Pistons after constructing a franchise that went to the Eastern Conference Finals six years in a row. The criticism fails to account for the dismal Detroit economy and restraints placed on Dumars while the team was up for sale and changing ownership, as Bucher notes, and Moore points to the success the team had early in Dumars’ tenure. Still, Moore advocates for a change. The Pistons are currently 24-36, three games out of the 8th spot in the East.

Pistons Considering Isiah Thomas For GM Job?

March 2nd, 2014 at 7:03pm CST by Charlie Adams

SUNDAY, 7:03pm: A co-owner of the Pistons denied the report in an email to David Mayo of MLive.com. “He is not a candidate for any job with the Pistons,” Mark Barnhill wrote. Barnhill acknowledged that he, principal owner Tom Gores, and Thomas recently had dinner, but he says that it was only to discuss an event to celebrate the Bad Boys era Pistons.

“If people are gonna manufacture rumors every time we are seen in the same room as someone, it’s gonna be a long few weeks as we head into the Bad Boys reunion and beyond,” Barnhill wrote.

SATURDAY, 4:41pm: League sources say that Pistons owner Tom Gores is seriously thinking of making a major front office shakeup after this season and bringing in former Knicks GM Isiah Thomas to run the team, reports Mitch Lawrence of the New York Daily News. Current boss Joe Dumars has taken a lot of heat over the years due to his penchant for firing coaches and his sometimes questionable draft selections, and one league source says Detroit is definitely looking to bring in Thomas once Dumars’ contract expires at the conclusion of the season.

Thomas was in control of the Knicks from 2003 until 2008. His tenure as boss in the Big Apple isn’t generally revered as a very successful one, and his unpopularity with New York fans is well known. In exchange for Eddy Curry, Thomas traded two draft picks to the Bulls that would eventually wind up being LaMarcus Aldridge and Joakim Noah. Thomas was involved in the sexual harassment lawsuit that ended up costing the Knicks $11.6MM, to which Lawrence attributes his eventual firing.

If Detroit is to bring in Thomas, Lawrence notes that his ties with likely-to-be-fired Knicks coach Mike Woodson might result in yet another coaching change for the Pistons. Thomas and Woodson were teammates in college and still talk regularly about basketball matters, Lawrence says. Woodson would have to lose his gig in New York, but that certainly isn’t out of the question.

The Pistons looked like a potential playoff team this season after a busy summer landed them a new point guard in Brandon Jennings and an upgraded frontcourt with the addition of Josh Smith. While Detroit still has a shot to sneak into the postseason, not many would argue that the 2013/2014 campaign hasn’t been a disappointing one, so much so that it led to the firing of Maurice Cheeks midway through the year. Ownership could see replacing Dumars as the shakeup Detroit needs to turn into a winning team.