As President of the Detroit Pistons, Joe Dumars has been praised for acknowledging his mistakes early and fixing them.
He turned Darko Milicic, Mateen Cleaves and Rodney White into more draft picks and cut ties with Flip Saunders when that coaching experiment flopped.
That said, I have to wonder when Dumars will be looking for a mulligan for the entire 2009 off-season.
After the disappointing season ended in April with a fantastically embarrassing sweep at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers, there was a bit of promise around the Pistons. Detroit had a mix of young talent around expiring contracts, and a whole lot of money to throw around either this summer or next, in what will turn into an All-Star shopping spree.
Admit it, Piston fan. The notion of being a player in the LeBron James sweepstakes had you intrigued. Especially if he could have been packaged with a big man like Chris Bosh or Amare Stoudemire.
But now, in the first full week of July, all of that is gone.
The money? Spent. The young talent? Either gone or rumored to be leaving at one point or another. The coaching staff? Blown up.
Detroit used to be a virtual lock to make the Eastern Conference finals. Now, the Pistons seem like a can't-miss lottery team.
Suddenly, this proud organization has hit hard times. And, it all seems self-imposed.
I can't make sense of Detroit's two big free-agent acquisitions. Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva are solid NBA players, but don't fit the needs the Pistons had. Both are criticized for their lack of defense -- something the Pistons used to pride themselves on. And now, both will be here with big five-year deals.
Good luck with that.
And then, there is the whole coaching situation.
When the season ended, Dumars said Michael Curry would return for a second year with Detroit. That stood until last week, when Dumars canned him on the fly, on the eve of free agency.
Huh?
How did Curry fall out of favor so quickly? A day before he was let go, Curry spoke to the media at the press conference introducing Detroit's draft picks. One day he was talking about the future. And the next, he was gone.
The only justifiable explanation was that Dumars must have his next coach -- a sure-fire thing -- waiting in the wings. Some speculated that the new coach could even be announced the day Curry was fired.
But that was hardly the case.
Doug Collins withdrew his name from consideration. Avery Johnson met with the organization, but the sides couldn't reach a deal. And now, a week later, reports say the team will hire Cavs assistant John Kuester.
So Dumars replaced Curry -- a coach criticized for his lack of experience -- with a guy with no experience, at least at the head coach level.
None of this makes sense.
To be sure, the summer isn't done for the Pistons yet. As of right now, Kwame Brown is the opening day starter at center, so expect some kind of move to resolve that disaster waiting to happen.
Chances are, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince or both will be involved in the move, signaling the true end to the previous era.
That era was defined by hard work and consistency.
This era seems destined to be defined by confusion and mishaps.
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